


Demolition Woman 2

by Phynxlegion



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Demolition Man (1993)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-02-23 22:34:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2558144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phynxlegion/pseuds/Phynxlegion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the end of the battle against the demon, Kayla returns to have her baby, and live with her partner Faith. Set in the city of San Angeles. Faith/Other, Willow/Tara.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

March 18, 2033  
San Angeles, (11:55PM)

Helping Kayla into their apartment, Faith puts her bags at the door, and helps her out of her mud-soaked clothes. Acting overly protective she constantly holds her hand for support everywhere she goes. Amazed to have her walking around, after her lengthy period in a wheelchair, Faith can’t help but linger on her every movement. Walking with her to the shower, she hangs out on the toilet as Kayla washes out months of dirt and grime. Explaining the adventures her and Alicia have had since they left, makes Faith slightly jealous and concerned. Using half a bottle of shampoo and body wash, she eventually finishes her shower and steps into the arms of her beautiful warrior. The shared minty taste of their lips shed the days away, and Faith lifts the naked Kayla into her arms and carriers her to bed.

Morning comes, and Kayla is the first to rise. After spending an inordinate amount of time on the toilet, Kayla finds her old robes and throws it on to take the chill off the morning air. Noticing her belly sticking out, she can only shake her head and overlook her preceding tummy. Looking at the time, she is surprised Faith is awake, and gently wakes her protector.  
“Hey, sleepyhead. You going to play hooky today or are you actually going to work.”  
With a warm smile, Faith wipes the sleep out of her eyes and blinks furiously blinded by the morning’s light. She sits up in bed, and rubs Kayla’s back.  
“Kayla, I took care of it last night after you fell asleep. I have about 6 weeks of leave saved up, and they let me take half of it all at once. So for the next 3 weeks, it’s just about you. I’ll still have to patrol, but you have a baby growing inside of you, and I need to be here for you. Lacey is making all the arrangements, and she’ll call me later today with your dates. Now, are you prepared to fill me in on who the father is?”  
Kayla smiles and kisses Faith with an intense passion.  
“It’s complicated, but this was a child given to me by no man. Do you remember the name of the slayer who was killed during the battle?”   
Faith nods her head slowly.  
“Yah, it was Katya. Why?”  
Kayla slowly continues.  
“Well, right before she died, she put her remaining essence and soul into my sword. It was the only way I could be resuscitated, and she knew that. That was supposed to be my fight, but you two did it in my place with my sword. My servant delivered the sword to me, and I was awoken to finish the fight here at the hospital.”  
Confused, Faith just shakes her head, rationalizing the story seeping into her ears.   
“That doesn’t explain your pregnancy.”  
Kayla snickers noticing how difficult her story is to digest.  
“Accepting her essence and soul came with a price.”   
Kayla grabs Faith’s hand and rubs it over her swollen belly.  
“I had to give her back her life that she sacrificed for me, so…I’m now carrying baby Katya as payment for the gift she gave me.”  
Faith can’t fathom the complexities of the magic and falls back to her limited high school education.   
“Sweetie…how in the world is that even possible? You need to have a…”  
Kayla cuts her off.  
“Baby, it’s called magic for a reason, a very old kind of magic. I lost my virginity in that damned mental ward, and I have never been with a man before or since. This baby inside of me is my payment for being alive and conscious right now. I stayed away so that no one could try and stop it, or abort it. Remember, it’s illegal to get pregnant without a permit here? Well, I figured it was best I stayed away until there was no way they could abort her, and here I am.”  
Faith sighs, struggling to wrap her mind around magical conceptions and births.  
“Girl, you have just opened my mind to something that I never imagined or could ever conceive of before. Spontaneous pregnancies…that sounds like it was straight out of the bible or something.”  
Kayla laughs heavily before replying.  
“Babe…I don’t know where to begin. This whole process is divine in nature. Only God could have truly have allowed the birth to occur, magic or not. He has like the final say in this kind of holy magic. If he didn’t want Katya born in me, I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. Don’t dwell on the specifics, just accept the facts. I’m pregnant with the previous slayer, and she will be born in a few months. And I don’t think she has any parents more suited to raise her.”  
Kayla reaches over and hugs her slayer. Kissing and fondling each other, they lounge and play in bed until Lacey calls with Kayla’s hospital appointments late that afternoon.

After an afternoon of scans, sonograms, poking, and physical exams, Kayla sits in the office of Dr. Priscilla Jeffery fully dressed and waiting for all the test results. Faith, pacing back and forth, passes Tara who glares at her to sit down. Gritting her teeth, she finds the chair and plops into it beside Kayla. Less than a minute later the tall middle-aged blonde enters and looks at the trio.  
“Typically I prefer to discuss the results with the husband and wife, but considering everyone’s credential I’ll make an exception.”  
Kayla looks at her with mild animosity.  
“Well considering there IS NO husband, Faith is my everything. Tara is my case adviser, so she’ll have to be briefed anyways, so it makes sense to have everyone here at the same time to hear what you say.”  
With her humor drained, the doctor continues.  
“Fine. The baby is in excellent health considering everything. She is entering her third trimester, and both of your blood works are good, except for some minor undernourishment for Kayla, it seems to have had no serious side-effects on the baby.”  
Tara clears her throat to speak.  
“Kayla was living off the land in the wastelands, until she was able to get back to the city. I have instituted a diet plan to get her back to full health, plus a regiment of prenatal vitamins. She’s lucky to even be alive.”  
She hands her an electronic data tablet with the lengthy detailed diet she orchestrated during their long wait. Faith tries not to laugh at Tara’s speech, knowing too well how competent Kayla really is of defending herself. Unimpressed, the doctor hands it back to her and continues.  
“When I find a mother who is unable to properly care for herself or the child, I normally order the separation of the two or hospitalize the mother until the baby is born. Fortunately for everyone here, that will not be necessary. It seems Kayla’s circumstances led to her being unable to provide for them at a level we prefer to see, so confinement isn’t necessary. With the diet plan, regular visits, and exercise, this baby will be born in good health. I’m assigning one of my young doctors to you, Dr. Sandra Kocher. She’ll keep me abreast of your progress. Do you have any questions?”  
Kayla eyes her skeptically.   
“Why the continued interest? Just hand me off to your doctor, and bid me farewell.”  
Kayla watches her eyes drift momentarily around before she replies.  
“I keep tabs on all my patients…I mean all patients in our department.”  
Kayla hesitates before ending the discussion and stands to leave. Eyeing the doctor suspiciously, Kayla motions towards the door.  
“Faith, I’m ready to go home.”  
The trio rises and after Faith and Kayla have left Tara hesitates to stare intensely at the doctor.  
“Do you have anything to tell me?”  
The doctor only shrugs.  
“Be well?”  
The smug sarcasm in the doctor’s voice tells Tara she has to call her department as soon as she gets free.

Kayla lounges on the couch in her favorite robe as Faith desperately tries to follow the recipe Tara provided. Refusing Kayla’s help, she toils on and is rewarded with a meal which is far more edible than she imagined. Sitting at their table, they spend the entire evening alone retelling every moment they missed from the past five months. Remembering the conversation from the previous night, Faith gets the courage up to ask about a trivial piece of information Kayla mentioned.  
“Sweetie, you mentioned you had a servant last night? What’s up about that?”  
Surprised with Faith’s memory, she nods and tries to put it into simple terms.  
“Well, she’s a holy creature who chose to help me long ago. Like any willing aide, I don’t call upon her for trivial matters. I respect she’s been with me for a very long time, and she’s told me that in my absence she’s been keeping an eye on you. I knew you’d stay here, but she’d check in on you from time to time. She stole the sword from you that night, and brought it to me. I doubt I would have woken up if it weren’t for her.”  
Faith can only shake her head, conceptualizing the story.  
“Kayla just when I think I know everything about you, you rewrite the books.”  
She can only nod, and keep her meager smile.  
“Well, you asked. I never imagined we’d have that battle in a thousand years.”  
Faith notices a weighty demeanor come over Kayla before she continues.  
“Faith. That battle your friend...Buffy Summers…and the fight you and Katya fought was mine. Instead of being in prison, I was supposed to be at that fight and kill that demon. It was an ancient score, and it was my responsibility that I didn’t fulfill. Your friend and Katya died needlessly, and because of me. I’m sorry, I was selfish. I can’t make it up to Buffy, but I can at least make up for Katya’s death by giving birth to her.”  
Faith thinks back and remembers Kayla turned herself in because of her, not the other way around.  
“Listen you dummy! Your memory is becoming selective, because I remember you joining me in prison because of me, not the other way around. You weren’t at that fight because of me, and if I weren’t acting like the Queen of Chaos, you would never have had to turn yourself in with me. Second, you couldn’t be at the second fight because some psycho trained his eyes on you, and nearly killed ya. I think you need to cut yourself a break and start living your own life.”  
Kayla can only shake her head.  
“I…I wish it were that simple sweetie, but…”  
Faith reaches over and squeezes Kayla’s hand.  
“It is that simple. You have no idea how much you have taught me; and by forcing me to stay in one spot this long, I have learned a great deal more. Give yourself more credit. A year ago, you were in a wheelchair with a speech impediment, now look at you.”  
Kayla nods and releases a slight stream of tears.  
“It seems the master is becoming the student, I taught you too well.”  
She reaches out and pulls Faith into a passion soaked kiss.  
“The second reason I came back was being pregnant has made me horny as hell.”  
Laughing the pair drift into the bedroom, leaving the dishes for later that night.

Tara screams in frustration as the video phone, or Fiber-op, cuts off. Willow cringes and comes out of their bedroom.  
“I take it Rachel couldn’t get anything from that doctor either.”  
Tara’s face is boiling in anger.  
“NO! And she’s legally supposed to tell her everything regarding Kayla’s pregnancy. This B…”  
Gives her a chiding expression, stopping Tara from finishing her word.  
“That doctor is up to something and I’m not going to rest till I know what it is.”   
 


	2. 2

March 29, 2033  
San Angeles Police Department, (4:55PM)

Kayla walks through the door of the police training rooms with Faith toting a heavy gym bag in her hand. She scans the gym and sees 20 officers stretching and caring on, and surmises it was her target. As she reaches them Alicia’s familiar voices calls out to her and throws her arms around her.  
“Kayla! I was wondering when you’d come back. My God! Has she actually grown more since I last saw you?”  
Kayla hushes her and motions to drop the subject. The rapid growth of Katya wasn’t something either Faith or Kayla had misses over the past week. She walks to the head of the class and looks it over. Trying to hide her disappointment, she sees only six familiar faces. Faith comes up behind her and notices her remorse seeing very few of the original class remaining.  
“Yah, we only have these original members who survived the battle. Every one of them that died didn’t go quietly or easily. They each made a difference thanks to you.”   
Kayla nods, knowing the truth of Faith’s words. Losing over three-quarters of her class in one fight was difficult to swallow. Leading them in stretching, Kayla has Faith take her place among the class and they spend 15 minutes going through the slow katas before breaking up into individual teams led by the veterans and Faith. She’s genuinely impressed with the survivors having never given up on their training, and personally speaks to everyone one during the afternoon session. Alicia notices several times during the class, Kayla steps away to have a drink and down an energy bar. By the end of the class she comes to her side and hugs her.  
“So, that little girl is sucking you dry?”  
Kayla can only nod with perspiration pouring down her face.  
“She’s doing what she was doing a couple of months ago?”  
Kayla nods once again, and motions to keep quiet with her finger. As the class disperses, Alicia follows Faith and Kayla to the parking lot to their waiting minivan. Having returned the wheelchair van months ago, with Kayla’s return it took them only a day to get a replacement van to accommodate her capacity to walk. As Faith loads up their gear, Kayla reaches over and gives Alicia a long hug and has secures the only privacy they can get in the city by whispering into Alicia’s ear.  
“Katya is growing very fast again. I think it’s because of a good diet, but she’s going to come earlier than nine months. She’s very much aware of her surroundings.”  
As Kayla breaks the hug, she speaks normally to her good friend and protector for the previous five months.   
“You should come by and have dinner with us some time. Faith is getting pretty good at not burning the food now.”  
Sharing a laugh at Faith’s expense, Alicia nods and picks up the cues.  
“Sure. How about Friday night? They still have me on desk and phone duty, so I’m not walking the beat just yet.”  
Faith agrees and ushers the exhausted Kayla into the van. Getting her home, she finds an excuse to help her in the shower and they let dinner time slip by until late. As Kayla naps from their post shower bliss, Faith cooks furiously and has Tara’s dinner menu ready as Kayla stirs. After setting the table, she’s surprised to find Kayla munching on a fruit bar to get going after her nap. Shaking her head, she helps her sit and scolds herself. Despite seeing her walking effortlessly for over a week, she still finds herself drawn to help her move around as she was before she left. Kayla brushes it off knowing it’s a habit which she won’t easily dispel. Smiling, she makes small talk about the training class and commends Faith for her diligence. She listens how the first few weeks after the battle were the hardest for everyone, as they struggled to deal with their losses. Faith tells of two survivors who no longer train.  
“Helena and Gregory never came back, but if you’re here now, maybe you can talk to them and see if they would be interested. They were really devastated with our losses, most were their oldest of friends. I think they only were into it because everyone else was. You know?”  
Kayla nods as she enjoys the chicken and rice dinner Faith managed to put together perfectly.  
“They were really adept too. I guess that’s why they survived. I’ll swing by their offices this week to say hi. Perhaps I can coax them back. It would be nice if they were there.”  
Faith surprises Kayla with a trip to Willow and Tara’s for dessert, and they spend the evening reminiscing and discussing the developing baby. After Lacey measures Kayla’s belly and takes a few noninvasive scans, she nods that her hunches were confirmed.  
“She’s growing 25 to 30 percent faster since you first got back. She was pretty much on track when you had your first appointment, but now…well she’s growing faster than a weed. What have you been doing differently?”  
Kayla mulls it over, but only shakes her head.   
“Eating? When we were out there, we only ate about twice a day. At first, she grew like this, very fast very noticeable. After the first month, I had a serious baby bump. After that, when the food became scarce, she slowed. When food was plentiful she’d grow super-fast; but when it was little, she barely grew, which I know now is normal growth. I’m going to have some crazy stretch marks from this!”  
Lacey confirms the numbers with Tara’s computer before continuing.  
“At this rate your due date has changed to almost a full month early, and that’s if she goes full term! If she increases that rate any further…well it could get seriously dangerous for you. Right now she’s stressing out your system and you’re taking in 150% more calories than you’re supposed to, and it’s not making a dent on replenishing your reserves. Your sugar levels drop furiously and you’re barely keeping up with her demands. If you get too weak, pop in some fruit immediately. Those energy bars are barely keeping her satiated. Right now her size and proportions are all normal, so it’s not like she’s getting fat inside of you, she’s just developing at an accelerated rate. Just do your best, that’s the only advice I can think of.”   
Tara sits closer on the couch before speaking, grabbing Kayla’s full attention.  
“Another thing, if your plate wasn’t full enough. They still have a law on the books making having a baby and not married illegal. Many things are still taking too long to change here, so have you two thought about tying the knot yet?”  
The surprised expressions on both of them, tells everyone in the room volumes. Willow fights from laughing and continues where her wife left off at.  
“We think they might try and take Katya as soon as she is born. And by law, they could.”  
The anger and fear in Kayla’s eyes rush Tara to calm her immediately.  
“Whoa! Whoa sweetie! That’s just can, not will…at least we hope not. This is why we are discussing this with you two right now. If you two are legally married, they have very little ground to stand on to take her. I’m just trying to eliminate the possibility of them pursuing that avenue, that’s all. Marriage, union, or whatever you call means you two are in an official stable relationship and can present a “proper environment” to raise a child according to the state and federal law. This was never an issue when you two went into the freezer, but now…well its complicated. Willow and I tied the knot right before they gave us full custody of Lacey.”  
Willow nods dramatically and chimes in.  
“And those were really crazy times too! All these social order laws were being pushed through on a daily basis, and we jumped in right away to give gay couples a voice in the process. There was talk we would be excluded from entire process, but money speaks louder than one’s sexual orientation. Mayor Cocteau fought vigorously against any LGBT involvement in government, but he had to buckle to pressure. In time his laws made intimacy illegal, but we resisted…at least under covers.”  
Lacey and Faith roll their eyes in unison as Tara and Willow share a smile and hug. Kayla, still fuming over the idea of losing Katya to the state, shrugs off the cute moment in front of her.  
“Listen, I won’t let them take her. I have no doubt she’ll be born with slayer powers, so they can’t raise her like Faith and I can.”  
She sees the change in tone in the room from her words. Faith’s expression goes from tense, to concerned, to finally confusion with Kayla’s statement.  
“Whoa! What? How is that even possible? When she died, didn’t another slayer come into her own right? I mean I’d love to raise a girl who could understand where her two moms were coming from, but a slayer too? How can you know that?”  
Kayla glances over at the globe glowing at the dinner table. Exuding a green and red pulsing and undulating light like a small lava lamp, its persistent glow assures them their private conversation was still being kept a secret.  
“I don’t just have her soul inside one of my eggs which is developing into a baby. I have Katya growing inside of me, who overwrote all my genetic information for hers. I’m basically a surrogate mother here. That’s why I didn’t need a man to get pregnant, it magically did it all for her, and she’s just borrowing my womb. For all intents and purposes, she’ll have no relation to me, other than I gave birth to her; not by blood or genetics. There is a chance she might share some minuscule genetic bonds, but basically this will be Katya to include who she was before she died…thus slayer!”  
Lacey, who had been keeping quiet, exhales softly as she speaks.  
“My god…three slayers running around! Evil thought it had it bad with two, but three now? What’s the chances of more?”  
Willow shakes her head and hesitates before commenting.  
“Alticia and a few later researchers once theorized, if we could discover the source of the slayer, we could release the restriction on just one slayer at a time. She never imagined or saw two slayers to say the last three at once. If there could be more than one, then one must ask how many can we have at once?”  
Faith, blown away by the idea mutters her thoughts.  
“An army of slayers…that would give us a fighting chance against all the evil of the world…we could make a difference. Couldn’t we?”  
Kayla, unaware that Faith had directed her question more to her than anyone else, shakes off the memory of Alticia and her lengthy conversation regarding the origins of the slayer.  
“You think I’m a tough bitch training you? Just imagine if I had to teach dozens of you at once.”   
Faiths chuckles uncontrollably.   
“I’d hate to be around you afterwards. Then again, I’d be good for stress relief.”  
Dragging Kayla out of deep reflection, she smiles brightly and kisses Faith passionately. Taking her hand in hers, she returns to the dilemma still surrounding her.   
“Let Faith and I discuss the ‘M’ word in private. I don’t want to pressure her to commit to something like this without her having some time to really think about it, and the consequences in her own rate and time. It’s a big step for us.”   
Faith, wanting to step forward and announce to everyone “yes,” finds she’s hesitant to reply. Hearing Kayla’s words, she nods and agrees with her white-haired lover.


	3. 3

March, 31 2033  
San Angeles Police Department, (1:25PM)

Kayla strolls into the motor division of the SAPD and eyes suddenly settle onto her. As a tough looking man eyes her and stands, Kayla prepares for trouble. She only takes two steps into the garage before a firm hand settles onto her shoulder and spins her around. Gregory Hoehler easily towered over Kayla at six foot two inches, but he seemed to see the strength in her small demeanor. Though he had never once seen her walk or fight before, his natural instincts told him to give her a wide berth. Having heard the rumors of her return, he was still hesitant to believe anything without seeing it first. As he gently nudged the strange white-haired woman around to face him, he was still genuinely surprised it was his old martial arts teacher standing before him. Instincts kick in and he bows respectfully, and Kayla returns the gesture. Taking her to his office, he makes a place for her to sit and gets filled in on her absence. Setting down her backpack of snacks, juice, and water, she fishes out her water bottle and an apple. Hearing her incredible journey, he can hardly imagine surviving out in the wilderness for so long. As she starts to try and not explain out her pregnancy, Helena Carter pushes open the glass door of the office and smiles seeing their old teacher. She can’t contain her surprise seeing her pregnant belly. Seeing no choice but to construct a plausible story, Kayla begins.  
“Faith and I had been trying to keep it a secret before my coma, and when all hell broke loose, I guess I blacked out. I didn’t regain my wits until sometime later out in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately Alicia was there to protect me. I owe her so much.”  
From behind her, a familiar heavy voice interjects as she finishes her story.  
“That’s some story Ms. Meadows. Any chance you have time to talk with me this afternoon?”  
Kayla turns slowly to find Officer John Spartan standing in the doorway wearing his typical sarcastic grin.  
“Perhaps. I was here to try and twist the arms of my old students here to return to my class tomorrow. Any chance I can convince you to step up and try out for my next class? I heard that some of those things you fought used a lot of martial arts against you in your fight. I could teach you a bit to level the field the next time you run into someone like that, could save your life.”  
He stops and seriously considers her offer after the past months of strangeness in the city after hours.  
“How about we discuss it on the way to see Officer Huxley and me in my office?”   
With a gentle smile, Kayla nods.  
“Fair enough. So you two interested in coming back? I could use a pair of experienced assistants to help out with the large number of newbies I have. Faith and the others have their hands full. Apparently word has gotten out that I’m back and I’m supposed to have a boom in attendance tomorrow.”  
Kayla watches as they glance back and forth to each other before replying. Gregory lets out a heavy draught of air.  
“I guess we can see what we can do with all these kids you’re getting…seeing that you’re pregnant and all.”  
Kayla smiles sarcastically and rises. Over-dramatizing her heavy belly, she makes her way out of the office with the “Demolition Man.” With the rolling eyes and chuckles resounding in her wake, she walks normally and bows to them. After thanking them, they take an elevator to the ground level offices. She decides to be the first break the stoic silence.  
“I was serious about you joining my class officer. I can teach you and Officer Huxley quite a bit. You have all this pent up strength, but only military fighting skills to utilize it, quite poorly I might add. I could teach you Fu Jow Pai, Tiger Claw! It could really change your life if you let it. Lenina…I’d probably teach her crane.”  
Shaking his head, John sighs dramatically.  
“Ms. Meadows…how in the world could you have ever learned Tiger Claw and Crane style Kung Fu?”  
Smiling, Kayla chides him.  
“This girl has her secrets she’s not willing to share with anyone. You are not in the need to know department officer. Please, I’m serious! Come to my class and sit in for a few weeks. Really commit yourself to learning, and I can teach you and a few others some superior fighting techniques. Worst thing you will get out of it is soreness from stretching your body to limits you might of only have had since basic training. Tell me you weren’t pushed to your limits in the battle for the hospital?”  
Wearing down from Kayla’s persistence, he nods in resignation.  
“Yah…it was that bad here. Fine, I’ll give you two weeks.”  
Kayla, seeing an opportunity, pushes back harder.  
“No. Four! I need two weeks to prepare you for training, and then two of actual training. If after four weeks and you’re dissatisfied, I’ll never ask you again; but I need you to really try, not just show up!”  
Shaking his head in disbelief, her agrees.  
“You know that you’re impossibly insatiable until you get your way?”  
Wearing a wide grin, Kayla proudly replies as the elevator doors open to the bustle and roar of the crowded police station.  
“Yup! Faith tells me that every night.”  
John suppresses his laugh having walked right into that remark. 

Leaving the SAPD building, Kayla steps into the van as Faith pulls up to get her. After driving away, Faith can’t contain her displeasure for having to wait in the parking lot until she was done.  
“Why again did you have me wait out here for three hours? I should have gone in and at least sat in during your debrief by John and Lenina.”  
Kayla reaches over and squeezes Faith’s hand lovingly.  
“Faith, sweetie, there are things which must be done by me alone. I can’t always have my beautiful woman of dynamite who has a quarter inch long fuse sitting in on discussions which can be misconstrued too easily. I love you! I would scour the Earth to find you if you were lost, but you have no tongue for diplomacy. I am a big girl who can fight her own fights, and they need to see that so that they don’t try and screw with me when you aren’t around. They reinstated by parole for six more months, but will not have me come in for them. They will be at my training sessions, so they will talk to me then.”  
Faith, having gotten heated up by the parole extension, is surprised to learn of the new students.   
“They? You got Officers Spartan and Huxley to come to your training sessions?”  
Kayla, grinning proudly, nods in a long up and down motion.  
“And I believe we will have a maxed out class tomorrow, so Greg and Helena will be there.”  
Stunned in disbelief, Faith tries to swallow the turn of events. Kayla fishes out her last orange and juice box from her bag and shakes her own head in disbelief and looks to Faith holding the last items from her bag.  
“I’m taking in over 4500 calories a day and it’s not making a dent on her demands. I’ve smeared enough coconut oil over my belly to make me dream that I’m a coconut tree, and I don’t think these stretch marks will ever go away! The only thing going for me is that most of the calories I’m taking in are low to normal fat levels. What I’d do for a Big Mac right now. I could down a couple of those babies and that would hook Katya up at least for a few hours. These stupid energy bars they have here are only 60 calories a pop! That only buys me ten or fifteen minutes with her! And if I’m working out, forget that! I have to stop after 15 minutes to gobble down fruit or some sort of sugar food just to finish!”  
Grasping Faith’s hand, Kayla continues.  
“Faith, honey? I don’t want you to freak out or take this the wrong way, but Katya is talking to me in my sleep.”  
Faith gets wide-eyed and pulls over to park.   
“What do you mean she’s talking to you?”  
Kayla tries to calm her slayer by grasping her hand tighter.  
“It’s not as bad as it sounds! Katya has a level of perception we don’t have as material creatures. She’s in danger from exterior forces, not us. This is why she’s trying to grow as fast as she can so she can get out and get away from here. She believes people are listening to us in our apartment, and she suspects everyone other than us. This city heavily utilized surveillance and subterfuge, and she feels others are taking too much interest in our little miracle growing inside of me. I’m passing around a story suggesting that I got pregnant right before I went into a coma so we could have a small addition to our family, but that’s still illegal under the current laws. She believes someone is going to try and take her using these laws, and she wants out of me.”  
Faith can’t comprehend what Kayla is telling by any stretch of her imagination. She putters around mentally before finally replying.  
“How is any of this possible? This is insane! You can’t have me believe that…”  
She can’t finish her sentence. Not that Kayla interrupted her, but her own thoughts seem to counter the words spewing forth. She was a vampire slayer since the previous slayer Kendra died, and she fought and killed a super demon less than a year ago. The expression she now wore told Kayla she didn’t have to respond to Faith’s previous statement.  
“Okay. She’s telling you she’s not safe, what can we do to calm her down?”  
Kayla gives the look she’d been dreading from two nights prior. Faith looks out at the bustling city, oblivious to her dilemma. The concept of love and marriage was a concept no slayer truly ever had the luxury of embracing. She knew of no book which described a slayer living beyond her twenties, to say the least falling in love and raising a family. She realized death was a constant companion for a slayer, either dealing it out or eventually receiving it. By believing it was possible, likened to a fish simply believing he could simply will his fins into legs and magically develops lungs to breathe air. A concept of pure fantasy and daydreams, yet here was Faith grappling with the very dilemma every slayer dreamed of.  
“Will it make that much of a difference if we did?”  
Kayla can’t hide her frustration, and she slams her fist on the dash.  
“Faith! This has nothing to do with Katya now! If you marry me, you must decide if you want to spend your entire life with me, not just for some other reason! I know you’re a slayer and you’re approaching the standard life expectancy. If some weird fluke of nature happens and you live to be a ripe and old age of 90, do you want to spend it with me? If Katya is born, that would make 3 slayers running around in this world, thereby increasing your chances for a longer life. When you were put into stasis, another slayer rose in your place. So when Katya died, another slayer rose in her place. Instead of some stranger training her after some day in which it becomes obvious she’s a slayer, we can train her from birth. I want to spend my life with the woman who is everything to me, and feels the same about me. I hope that’s you, because I’m banking on it right now. If not, then you better tell me now. I understand and know all about your background and who you were, but if you want to live that carefree for the rest of your life, then I won’t be a part of it. Katya and I need someone who’s willing to devote and risk everything to making a family life work, not running when the times get tough or confusing.”  
Faith lays her head on the steering wheel, torn with flight and the pull of her heart strings. Tears stream form her eyes, as she can’t get her mouth to work right. Some darkness in her demands she says no and run for the hills, while the opposite shade reminds her that Kayla could be the one. Lifting her head up, her mouth formulates the word no, but instead blubbers incoherently.  
“N…I’m…afraid.”  
Throwing her fists against the wheel, she fights the wolf inside of her demanding to head for the hills.  
“I want…I need to say yes, but I’m afraid Kayla. You’re the first person I’ve ever admitted my weakness to.”  
Kayla’s tears dribble down, unsure of what her lover will end up telling her.  
“Faith, this is a decision you must make all on your own. What you say now you’ll have to live with for the rest of your life, good or bad.”  
Trembling, Faith rests her head on the steering wheel far longer Kayla could ever imagine. The pair sit parked idly as people casually wander past ignorant of the lives dangling on the precipice of salvation and damnation.


	4. 4

April 3, 2033  
San Angeles (8:27Am)

Their Sunday morning was explosively busy from the moment they woke. After staying up most of the night browsing wedding attire with Willow, Tara, and Lacey they were beat. Katya was driving Kayla’s needs for breakfast and they couldn’t sleep in as they’d like. Lacey, after taking some more measurements, was still dumbfounded by the accelerated growth the baby exhibited and insisted on daily checks whenever she could corral Kayla away from her mothers. With her next appointment due this week, Kayla wasn’t looking forward to additional prodding. With the last of the official marriage paperwork in stone, Faith would spend her last week off filing the licenses with the city. It took a favor from a city worker who owed Faith after she was attacked by a vampire, and not to mention the footwork to get four medical officers to sign off on their blood work in advance. It was made easier because both Kayla and Faith had their samples on file within the past year, but the usual 18 month waiting period had to be waived. Tara had a great deal to do with that process, as her name carried great weight within the city and health community. She never said how many favors she called in, but Kayla knew “thank you” wasn’t enough.  
All during the process, Tara discovered the head of the Maternity Department had secretly and overtly tried to force every doctor and official to deny their request. With no private doctors to turn to, she had to file numerous official injunctions against Doctor Jeffery, who eventually withdrew her objections after pressure from the City Medical Board, which Tara had been directly involved with for half her career. The allies and contacts she gained expedited the execution of both her official and unofficial work in the Social Care Department for years. Despite being unofficially retired, she continued to speak and advise at least monthly. With the request for a speedy gay marriage easier to execute than a regular one, mostly due to the lack of prenatal lab work for the two of them, Tara could push the request through in one day, even on a Friday afternoon. Though she’d been filing the paperwork since the Monday prior, it wasn’t until she got the definitive word when she requested all the official signatures. With all the gears greased, it happened so fast, Doctor Jeffery didn’t have enough clout to slow down something which was preapproved. She had also learned that Police Chief Earle had gone to bat for the pair and it practically put the sinister Dr. Jeffery in her place when she claimed Kayla lacked the moral character to raise a child. In the end, her efforts had resulted in her loss of face and a bitterly bruised ego.  
Meeting Willow for lunch, Tara crashes into her chair and exhales loudly.  
“You’d think after all this time, they would find it common place for two women to request a marriage certificate, even here in San Angeles.”  
Without replying, Willow orders a pair of coffees and squeezes her wife’s hand.  
“Sweetie, this is still just 2033. We can’t expect miracles overnight. Heck! I still can’t practice magic in public…well at least without anyone stopping and gaping.”  
Tara, staring at the ceiling in frustration, she pulls her head forward wearing a quizzical expression.   
“That reminds me. Did you ever pay that fine for disturbing the peace with your ball of sunshine you did back in December?”  
She shakes her head.  
“Nope. Got it dismissed. The officer for some reason forgot all about the incident, and couldn’t testify against me.”  
Tara puts on a seriously annoyed glare at her little redhead.  
“Willow Rosenberg! You had better stop doing that! You know how karma can catch up with you for doing that. It’s just not right!”  
Defensively Willow lowers her head in embarrassment.  
“I restored it a month later, just as soon as I could. Besides, he was very rude to me for the entire thing! I should have let that slutty vamp bite him. I don’t know why you are so against that kind of magic.”  
Tara sits upright in her chair, to bear down on her companion across from her.  
“Willow! I mean it! No messing around with people’s memory for any reason! I don’t know why I feel so strongly about it. I just do! Why can’t you just leave that magic alone…for ME! I’m not going to ask you again, so you better listen to me. God! You can be as stubborn as Lacey!”   
Willow, surprised, apologetically agrees and tries to steer the conversation towards anything else.   
“I found a nice place to have the ceremony. It’s not far from Museum district.”  
Tara, still fuming, tries to dismiss her anger and its source. Many things in her life defy reason, and she has become accustomed to moving with the tide like instinct, rather than conscious thought.  
“Oh? I think I know the place. Wasn’t Kayla and Faith going to hold off on the ceremony until after Katya is born?”  
Willow nods.  
“Yah, but I thought it would be nice to have them at least speak the words to make it official.”  
Tara chews on the thought for a few minutes and sees the logic lubricating the gears in her wife’s head.  
“Let’s talk to them and see how it goes over with them. I know Faith is still really nervous about all this. If you had asked me if she’d ever tie herself down when I met her ages ago, I would have absolutely disagreed.”  
Willow reflects and nods strongly in agreement.  
“Seeing Faith in the good guy role still blows my mind!”  
Tara immediately throws in a reply without hesitation.  
“I know! But it’s in a good way though!”  
Willow continues to nod in agreement without replying.   
“I wish I really knew more about Kayla though. I get the impression there’s a story there, but she really doesn’t want to reveal too much about herself.”  
Willow finds the breath to sneak in a bit of knowledge she had uncovered.  
“Her mother died when she was only 14 and she has no other family. Oh! And she’s super smart! I was able to access her SATs before she went into hiding, and she blew away my scores from back then. It’s just a shame she couldn’t go to college. She has great potential, and I was able to access her reeducation program from the back up database of the cryo-prison. She was to be a physical trainer, but her disability nullified that program. Now that she’s completely mobile, I guess she’s perfectly suited for the work she’s doing now. The program taught her massage techniques, yoga, acupressure, and basic nutrition.”  
Tara absorbs Willow’s words.  
“I never cared for that program either, messing with people by implanting training directly while they sleep. It was entirely unethical, I don’t care if it was legal or not. Cocteau was a maniacal little dictator. I can’t say I’m sorry he’s gone. If he had his way, we would have been kicked out of here long ago.”  
Willow nods and is drawn to a long buried memory.  
“He reminded me of Principle Snyder, from Sunnydale high school. I really disliked him. I don’t think he liked anyone at the school, and he didn’t care if we knew it. Very sad, I guess.”  
Tara can think of nothing to follow her wife’s word’s, and the two meander back to discussing wedding clothes and locations until they make their way back to their apartment that afternoon.

Kayla had been looking forward to getting out onto the town that evening with Faith. Since she’d regained the use of her legs, she hadn’t been on a date with Faith or spent an evening out of their apartment. With Faith due to return to work in a few days, she twisted her arm to finally take her out. Hanging on her like a schoolgirl, Kayla loved the feel of Faith’s muscles and physique; not too much muscle and not much of anything else to get in their way. With Katya kicking her occasionally, she had become accustomed to mild pains and punches from the slayer inside of her, and she had to chide the infant to calm down far too often. Sitting in a booth with Faith, they held hands and sifted through the notes Willow and Tara sent them regarding wedding clothes. Faith, fearsome of wearing a dress or gown, settled on a traditional pant and jacket combination, while Kayla wanted to go all out on a dress after Katya was born. As they finish their quiet dinner, they find themselves muted with appreciation for each other’s company. Since Kayla had returned they had spent nearly every second in conversation or maniacal sex; and now they finally found that calmness of simply holding the other’s hand to be satiating enough. Kayla remembered this moment in the future as the moment which Faith had finally come to peace with getting married, while Faith would say it was the calm before the storm.  
As they walked to the door, a sudden crash sent patrons scurrying out of the way of an old man stumbling towards them. Bloody and panting, he babbles incoherently and collapses before Faith’s feet. Instinctively, Faith drops and assesses his wounds and notices dozens of deep animal bites and gaping cuts covering him. As she screams for someone to call an ambulance, she grabs several cloth napkins to staunch the blood loss. Noticing he’s a Native American in his late years, Faith tries to calm him with no effect. Speaking in a bizarre language, people can’t understand anything he says, making communication impossible. A young man, not much younger than Faith, pushes through the crowd and desperately tries to get the man to calm down.   
“Grandfather! Please calm down and speak English, we don’t understand Lakota! Who did this to you?”  
Frantic and scared, he continues to scream in his native tongue, heightening the anxiety of the room. Trying to temper her slayer strength, she fights against accidentally hurting the frail old man. As she uses more and more of her strength, he suddenly becomes quiet and still. Anxiety screams through her expecting to discover he had expired, instead she’s shocked to see him staring in a combination of fear and joy. Following his eyes, she sees Kayla standing at his feet wearing a serene and calming expression.   
Faith can’t look away either, but finds the strength to break her hypnotic glare. As she binds his wounds he finally resumes speaking calmly in his native tongue to Kayla. Faith’s heart skips a beat when Kayla replies in his language, and they talk continuously as he’s held to this world by Faith’s caring hands. Only after paramedics arrive, do they stop and Kayla leaves his side to join her in the washroom as she washes off the blood. Faith stares at her in a mixture of amazement, fear, and frustration. Kayla seems to read her properly and speaks before Faith gets any angrier.  
“I bet you have a bunch of questions huh? I get you’re hurt a bit, but the reality of who and what I am is a bit complicated, as it is if you were to try and explain that you are a slayer. Are you there or are you just going to brood at me?”  
Processing Kayla last words, Faith nods grudgingly.  
“Yah. Let’s talk about it later, okay?”  
With a heavy sigh, Kayla smiles and continues.  
“You got it. He spoke of something called a Coku Mani, or a Skin-Walker. I’m not familiar with their legends but he claimed it had tried to kill him but he escaped. We need to get Willow and Tara involved in the research behind this thing. I feel this is only the beginning of our troubles.”   
 


	5. 5

April 3, 2033  
San Angeles (9:17pm)

Checking the privacy totem once more, Kayla nervously sits down and clutches at Faith’s hands, unable to find a starting place. With Willow and Tara sitting in the couch in front of her, she finds it difficult to look any of her new friends in their eyes. Taking a deep breath, Kayla squeezes Faith’s hands once more and begins.  
“First off, I’m not like a slayer. Second, I’m not immortal. I am born and die just like the next person. My uniqueness comes about when I die and I’m reborn sometime later. At this time, I’m not at liberty to discuss the details, but my memory goes back a long time.”  
Willow leans forward to speak.  
“How long? Decades? Centuries?”  
Tara studies Kayla’s face as she mulls over how to respond. Her response puts the two women back into their seats.  
“I remember the night when Troy fell. The wind was blowing ever so slightly, and it was a clear sky with a new moon. And when the Sumerian civilization fell to the Akkadian Empire, I was on a small ship heading across the Atlantic Ocean to what we now call South America.”  
Willow sees the glossy expression on Faith and Tara and momentarily leans into the conversation.  
“Sumerians…that’s about 2200 BC, well over 4000 years ago.”  
Kayla simply nods in approval and continues.  
“I have spent the majority of my life disassociating and preventing any connection between the Child of Light and the fabled Vampire Slayer. Only once before have I teamed up with the Slayer a few thousand years ago in Kauai, when we killed a full demon. I joined the fight after it started; and together we lured him into the middle of an erupting volcano. We never exchanged names or conversed, but my help in that fight was never known or repeated. I fight the big fights that a meager half-demon and human slayer can’t win, and trust me I’ve stayed busy for all that time. I even know of demi-gods who walk the earth that try to avoid me. I don’t tolerate the presence of true evil, but there are some demons that learned that being evil 24/7 is not healthy.”  
Turning to Faith, she cups the strong woman’s hands in hers and gathers her full attention.   
“You are unique, Faith. I have never allowed myself to be made so vulnerable by love, and I have no regrets. With your love, I have been allowed for the first time since I have been born, to truly love unreservedly and not fear for your life. It’s simply...amazing.”   
Faith numbly responds.  
“So is your strength and abilities unique to your race or people?”  
Kayla shakes her head as she replies.  
“There are no others sweetie, just me. Just me for tens of thousands of years.”  
Willow sits back up after digesting Kayla’s story.  
“You arrived on the back of a motorcycle with a demon. Isn’t that against what you were just saying?”  
Tara believes she knows that answer, but let’s Kayla explain in her own words.  
“No. The majority of the creatures you call demons are only half-demons. Furthermore, those demons I do associate with recognize that I’m basically a sheriff. They screw up, I send them on to Hell. They play ball and help rather hinder human development, they don’t get sent to Hell. Kambadora, like the horned ones I rode into town with, are devoted to my cause. They want to create and build, rather than tear down and ruin. I arranged the first worker’s union between man and Kambadora over 5000 years ago. Without their knowledge, half of the structures man has been given credit for building would never have been possible. They have their ups and downs, and I occasionally have to shake up their leadership to put them back into line every few hundred years, but it’s not that bad. Really!”  
Tara mulls over the breadth of her story and tries to think of questions which might stir up more questions.  
“You’re having this baby now. This means you can only get pregnant by magical means?”  
Kayla only takes a second to respond.  
“No. I can get pregnant by any human or such. I have a human anatomy, and everything that comes with it.”   
Kayla then spends a minute to consider revealing her largest, most private secret.  
“I had a child a long time ago, Meliora. I was raped during an attack by the Spartans. It took four of them to hold me down, and when the first man was done, and the next bastard tried to take his turn, I got loose and slaughtered them all. I never held her responsible for what happened to me, and I loved her with all my heart. She went on and had six children of her own, and I attended her funeral when she died at the age of 54. After that, I perfected magic to inhibit pregnancy or to stop it as soon as the situation occurred. I never wanted to outlive my child again, but I know that will probably always happen. Katya will be different, as she’s not really mine and she’s a Vampire Slayer. Death is a job requirement it seems. I say that, but I’m quite aware if I raise her, I’ll love her nonetheless as I did Mel. Faith, I need to ensure you’re in this for the long haul. I don’t do anything half-ass; and if I actually say ‘I do’ I mean it! You’re the only one for me, and only Death can part us. It won’t be easy raising a Vampire Slayer from the moment she’s born, and it takes one to know one. So, after all this, are we still on for next week’s ceremony, or are we on-hold?”  
Faith jumps out of her chair and paces the room. Digesting everything Kayla had fed her was far from easy. Clutching her head and staring at the ceiling, she scoops up a large draught of air before replying.  
“Kay…I…I imagined you telling me a thousand different things tonight, and nothing came close to the truth. I always knew you were special, but I never even came close to what you just said. I get the long deception for who you really are. I’d have done the same, for the same reasons, so I have no problem with any of that. And I don’t mind the older/younger relationship thing either, but Damn! I only imagined a few years ahead of me, not thousands of years. That’s a lot girl! But you’re not a demon, and you’re not evil, so what’s a girl not to like about this? Yah, I think we’re still on for next Saturday afternoon. Every way I add it up, and math isn’t one of my strongest of skills, you’re still a keeper.”   
The light finally gets to full brightness inside Willow’s head.  
“Oh my GOD! You’re the same Child of Light that Demon feared back when Buffy was killed!”  
Kayla smiles slightly seeing the brightness shooting out from her eyes.  
“Yah, that would have been me. The demon you fought was a true demon, and you see why I don’t get involved in these minor battles the slayer gets into daily. Instead of being there, I was tucked away in prison with Faith keeping the gangs from taking advantage of her temporary weakness. When I’m truly at my weakest, there’s this horrible odor thing that I exude that drives away demons. They can’t stand coming any closer than half a mile. Humans can’t smell it, but dogs, cats and demons can. It’s a living hell to even come within 50 feet of me. That damn demon seed shut it off, so once it was gone, my system took forever to recover.”   
Tara takes a sudden draught of air and smiles in the knowledge that the wedding is still on.  
“So what kind of theme are you two going for?”

April 4, 2033  
San Angeles (3:45am)

Sitting back in their chairs sipping at their cups of steaming tea, Willow and Tara point towards the table covered in open books. Willow is the first to finish sipping.  
“There are just too many opinions on what exactly this skin walker is. Some say it’s just a shape-shifter like a werewolf, while others say it’s a clawed demonic killer that can take on whatever shape it wants.”  
Tara continues without missing a beat.  
“And even another, Navajo, says it’s an evil witch that can turn itself into any animal it wishes. All Indian legends have different names for this kind of thing, each subtly different than the next. We have no idea how to deal with it. This could be a demon, or this could be an ancient type of dark magic.”  
Faith, returning from her patrol sits in the opposite couch alongside the sleeping Kayla. Slipping off her boots, she rubs her feet and lies back.   
“So, you got nothing for me…right?”  
Willow glances at Tara and shrugs.  
“Pretty much.”  
Faith shakes her head and pushes a lock of Kayla’s hair off her nose.  
“Well I found nothing out there. I got no leads, no attacks, or anything to go off of. I staked a pair of vamps fresh out of the ground, and I ran into a ghoul who was setting up shop in the cemetery. I told him to keep it clean, and not to draw any attention to his feedings, and I wouldn’t have to kick him out. In return he offered to keep an eye out for suspicious characters hanging out in his territory and would report back to me just after sundown if it sees anything funny.”  
Faith outlines the edge of Kayla’s face and laughs to herself.  
“I never imagined me cutting deals with monsters just to keep the peace…”  
Willow interjects immediately as if she was reading her friend’s mind.  
“Like Buffy did? She crossed the lines of good and evil to get the job done. That stupid Watcher’s Council was more a hindrance than help in those days. Heck Angel was able to enforce the peace for a while, but Buffy was the force behind it. I think this is something a Slayer does when they live longer than a couple of years. You sort the not so bad from the horribly evil, and force everyone to coexist. You need a buffer from the evil which evil does, and the smart demons learn to play ball in order to keep from starving or being killed.”  
Tara sees a glimmer or image of an idea in her mind and quickly vocalizes it.  
“Perhaps you should become what Kayla says she does. You be the Sheriff of San Angeles, and be seen as the keeper of the peace between humans and demons. Make yourself available to hear disputes and fix their problems in their world, so that it doesn’t affect the one up here. If you did, perhaps when trouble rolls into town, the underworld would be less hesitant to get involved because all of them would feel the repercussions of inaction. Maybe you should even see about getting a few of the strongest leaders of the demon world that live under the city to assume a deputy role and constructing laws for the rest to abide by?”   
Faith fights from laughing hysterically.  
“Now that’s crazy talk, even for you two!”  
Kayla’s meek and sleepy voice slips into the conversation.  
“No, it’s not crazy. I tried it several times in my existence, and it works about 45% of the time. The longest period I had total peace and unity lasted for a 189 years, until World War 2 came along in Europe and fouled everything up. The entire period of revolutions, both in Europe and the Americas was due to man, not demonic influence. I made sure of that. If you Faith, the famed Bad-Girl Vampire Slayer brokers the deal, I think you’ll have a better chance of it working. If I do it, they’ll obey out of fear, not sincerity.”  
Willow steps up and extrapolates further.  
“We have an unknown baddy who just moved into town. There’s no doubt it will piss off the demon locals and they will want it gone as much as we do. Maybe it’s just that simple?”  
Faith can only shake her head, unsure of Willow’s logic.  
“I don’t know Willow, it just seems too neat and tidy.”  
Kayla reaches over and rubs Faith’s hand.  
“Faith, sometimes it’s just that way. You’ll never know until you try, though. Demons are more diplomatic than you can believe, but they too are used to heroes like you just busting into their abodes and lairs and cracking skulls. They see you as a stereotypical good guy, and that’s what you normally do right? Try something completely different. It might throw them completely off.” 

April 5, 2033  
San Angeles (7:08pm)

Breathing heavily over the settling dust and the sound of mewing kittens, Faith picks up a knocked-over chair and sets it back under the poker table where it had once sat. Looking around the tussled room, she counts four unconscious demons and shakes her head. Grabbing the other chairs, she sets them back under the table and finds a spare in the corner of the room as kittens run amuck. Grabbing the biggest demon, she helps him into an upright position and lets him wake on his own. Groaning, he expects a thrashing and winces as Faith lets him go against the wall. Gingerly opening his good eye, he stares in amazement as Faith takes the chair, turns it around and straddles it to look at him. Faith shakes her head in disbelief. Her plan of talking had collapsed within 2 seconds of the door opening, and the demon threw the first punch. Reaching down to the floor, she scoops up a kitten as it passes under her and pets the innocent creature. The demon coughs up some blood and wipes his mouth of the evidence.  
“What are you going to do now slayer, put the chair on my chest and crush me to death as I struggle to breathe?”  
Faith rolls her eyes.  
“As I was saying when I showed up, I just want to talk. Have you all seen anyone new walking around lately? I’ve heard of something called a skin-walker showing up topside and causing trouble, and I was wondering if you all had heard of it. That’s all!”  
The demon shakes his head immediately and painfully adjusts his sitting position.  
“Nah. We see lots of newbies at the store, but nothing like that. When one of those shows up, we stay clear of them, and they steer clear of us. They are bad news, lots of bad mojo, you know?”  
Chuckling, Faith shakes her head and sneers.  
“Actually no, I don’t know. I’ve never had the pleasure, or at least I don’t think I have. They’re shape-shifters, right? I doubt I’d have known I was talking to one.”  
The demon nods his head.  
“Yah, I guess you wouldn’t if it was only in passing, but they have a distinct smell: not animal and not human, something in between. It’s revolting. So, that’s it? Just wanted to ask about a skin-walker?”  
Faith stays seated and shakes her head.  
“Nope. I wanted to know who was in charge down here. I’m tired of coming down here cracking skulls and smashing up everything just to ask a simple question. I just ruined a perfectly good poker game for what? Just to ask you about a stinking skin-walker, come on? This is stupid. I heard you were up there on the demons to know list, and I had to beat you all up just to get some face time. Doesn’t this strike you as unnecessary? A complete waste of time and effort? I want…no. I’d like to set up some sort of council or representative I can go to, so I don’t have to beat down every door just to get information. I know the slayers in the past always beat you up for every piece of info they got from you all, but I want to change things. If we’re going to live around each other, we need rules and some common ground to talk. It would be nice if I could go to a few of you for stuff, and let you all live your lives down here in peace.”  
Laughing the demon chuckles for a minute, realizes Faith’s sincerity, and stops abruptly.  
“You’re serious. The peace never lasts, you know?”  
Faith nods her head.  
“I’m not laughing. Yah I heard that, but I also heard about the Brussels Accord, and it lasted until 1939. That was almost 200 years of peace between you and us. Yah, we’ll have our occasional demon or vampire who enjoys stirring up trouble, but we can work on that. The majority of you guys don’t feed on humans, and the ghouls and a few others are only interested in us until after we’ve been dead for a few days. I’ve already told them if they keep it quiet and discreet, I have no problems with that.”   
The demon slowly stands and starts gathering kittens away from Faith as he thinks.  
“Damn, you are serious about this. In those days, we self-governed. Are you going to allow that too?”  
Faith, burying the grisly future of the kitten she was petting from her mind, puts it into the basket the horned demon holds.   
“I don’t see a reason to say no. What you all do down here is your business until it affects me. Keep the noise down, and the landlord won’t have to come down here and crack skulls or evict you all. Right?”  
“Well, they’ll like that. There are a lot of us that hated the war that erupted on the surface, and if you keep your word they’ll love not cringing every time you show your face down here.”  
Faith scoops up one more kitten and places it into the basket as she talks.  
“Same here. That way, when one of you sees me and takes off running, I won’t chase him down needlessly. Oh yah! You need to write down your laws you want to live under. If I don’t know that its bad form to sneeze before we speak, how in the heck are we going to get anywhere? You all have some weird rules, and I can only enforce what I know. Are you up to the task for temporarily acting as my go to person until you all formalize all this? That’s why I came here in the first place! I wanted to talk to one of the most influential demons down here, and I heard you were that demon.”  
He scratches one his numerous green thorny spikes protruding from his face and arms.  
“Yah….that would be me. I’ll see if they are interested in an accord like the Brussels one, and see how it rolls. Months have passed since that skirmish upstairs, so they might buy it being legit. Give me a few days to talk around the lairs, and I’ll see what I can stir up. Meet me at the cat market in three days just after sunset, and I’ll let you know how it’s coming along. In the meantime, I’ll put some feelers out for your skin-walker and see if it’s hiding out down here.”  
After exchanging a handshake, they part and the demon finishes gathering the kittens and mulls over the turn of events.


	6. 6

April 6, 2033  
San Angeles (2:01pm)

Sitting in the bull pen, Faith listens to a MDK report which occurred on the opposite side of town which she patrolled the previous night. The coroner believes it might have been a pack of rabid dogs, but Faith recognizes the claw and bite patterns were identical to the old Indian man’s. She pulls out her hip computer and begins looking into the victim’s background, hoping to find a clue why he was targeted. Mr. Jonathon Baxter, 74, once worked at the City’s Planning and Design Department and has been retired for 3 years this coming May. Using the main computer, asks the system to correlate the attack on Mr. Soaring Duck…she double checked the Indian man’s name twice, it found no records which said they ever crossed paths or offices. Mr. Duck was a recent resident to the city, brought here by his eldest son William. Even more interesting, his son had changed his name to Mallard, soon after he arrived to San Angeles. Shaking the comedy aside, Faith probes the son’s background as an economist, and the computer also fails to find any connection above 21 percent. The higher the percentage, the more likely a connection and Faith vaguely used this as a gauge, while other officers swore on it.   
As she returns to patrolling the streets, a duty she actually found quite enjoyable, she would often spend her day conversing with all the shop owners of petty crime, unusual occurrences, and now the sudden lack of stray dogs and cats wandering the streets in her neighborhood. Though it was previously illegal to feed or care for strays, with the new city government relaxed the enforcement of petty laws designed to enforce total control over the populace’s daily lives. The city government was actually keeping up the policy of a police officer on every corner, though manning still wasn’t where they wanted it. Faith had a dozen blocks she was accountable for; fortunately only one area was out of her district. She had specifically requested the high incident area near and around the cemetery, and to everyone’s surprise, the violence and incident reports dramatically plummeted after the first month of her on the beat. Even she only reported the incidents which resulted in serious injury, which went from a dozen during her first week, to about once a month.   
During her last parole meeting with Chief Earle, he said he was pushing through a Pardon Order for her and Officer Spartan for their previous crimes. Based on her age at the time and her performance during the past year, he believed it would be approved. Officer Spartan was also going to be pardoned, as the security system clearly recorded the criminal Simon Phoenix take full responsibility for the deaths which Officer Spartan was convicted of committing. The recording and his defense statements clearly prove his innocence, so it was just a formality of getting his conviction reversed. For Faith, it was a bit more complicated, but her youth, lack of proper upbringing, and now her performance in the department has warranted a careful reexamination of the facts. With Chief Earle and Mayor Friendly’s recommendations in her package, it had a superb chance of being approved. With both their deputy contracts set to expire in 6 months, the city was hand carrying them to the capitol for review and approval.  
Faith found the previous year still surrealistic. Not only had she been released from prison, she was with her true love, and found people who she believed were her enemies, become her trusted friends. Even more incredible was the job which her hours were set in stone, so she could patrol late at night and still hold down a well-paying day job. Her position allowed her to use the resources of the city, while carrying out her Slayer duties without conflict. She heard that once her order came back, she’d be up for a promotion of some sort, but the Chief left out any particulars. She’d heard through the grapevine that the Chief was assembling a special response team, and he was interviewing most of the senior students from her martial arts class. The sounds of that seemed to conflict with her slayer patrols, so she hoped he wasn’t eyeing her for that job.  
With thoughts rampaging through her head, Faith notices her shift would end long before she could make it back to the station. Making it back to her car, she reports in, confirms she’s under no duress making her report, and ends her shift in time to pick up a loaf of fresh bread to go with dinner. As she steps out of the elevator to her apartment, she immediately notices a faint pungent odor wafting through the hall. A mix between skunk, rotten meat, mace, urine, and vomit, the smell fortunately wasn’t incredibly strong. As she opens her apartment door, the intensity suddenly doubles and she fights the initial gag reflex. After a minute, her body seems to adjust, and she stops gagging. Sitting naked in the bath tub, Kayla is submerged to the neck. Crying, she levels her red eyes on her lover and begins sobbing once again.  
“This wasn’t supposed to happen for another two months! Three to four weeks before I give birth, this happens, and I don’t know why it started this early. I’m sorry Faith!”  
Faith, speechless instinctively goes to Kayla’s side and feels the full effect of the odor. Dipping her finger into the water, she brings it to her nose and nearly throws up as she takes a full sniff of her finger. Rushing to the sink, she spends 5 minutes washing it, but can’t get it off of her.  
Kayla sobs, and apologizes further.  
“Sweetie, this is all screwed up. I asked Tara or Willow to care for me now. They won’t smell it, and it won’t stick on them. It will pass after Katya is born, but until then I’m powerless to stop it.”  
Flabbergasted, Faith can only nod and obey. 

April 6, 2033  
San Angeles (9:35pm)

After another lengthy examination, Lacey verifies her hunch. Faith, sitting nervously on the couch sipping at her coffee.  
“Katya’s head has moved down. She’s got no more than 2 weeks and she’s the right weight, length, and position for birth. Unfortunately Kayla is lagging in her Braxton Hicks, and this could be a concern.”  
Lacey notices the blank stare in Faith’s eyes and shakes her head.   
“Kayla’s body should be practicing for having the baby by having mini contractions, basically. She’s not, or hasn’t been having enough. This baby is coming fast, and she’s going to have a rough time during the birth.”  
Nodding Faith tries to visualize this, and is surprised that it is making sense to her on some deep level. As she dwells on the subject, she’s further surprised to have the weekly calendar of fetal development suddenly pop into her head.  
“So she’s technically in the 33rd week of pregnancy and she’s not having her tiny contractions?”  
Lacey, prepared to explain the cycle in greater detail, suddenly stops and nods.  
“Uh…yah! That’s correct. And before you ask, there’s nothing anyone can do about it.   
When she starts her labor, we’ll need to rush her to the ER.”   
Nodding, Faith thanks her for the update and heads out for nightly routine. Meandering through the cemetery with her list of fresh burials, she crisscrosses the four divisions checking off every name on her list. With the city relatively vampire free, she decides to interrogate the latest victim/vampire as she struggles to free herself of the grave. The city was trying to push for tougher burial requirements, secretly trying to contain any undead in their grave, and would necessitate an excavation crew to actually open the steel reinforced concrete cradle the coffin sat in. Unfortunately, the costs of this technique would increase burial costs 20%, so it was hard to push through the city council. With boredom threatening to overcome her, she reaches down and pulls the vampire free of her earthen grave.  
She comes out coughing and rubbing her hands. Caked with dirt and her once manicured nails stripped of their polish, the young woman grips the new headstone next to her grave. As she gets her bearings she prepares to attack Faith who laughs and steps back.  
“Hey! Catch your breath! I’m not going anywhere.”  
Taken back she nods and sighs dramatically.   
“Thanks. You’re a cop, right?”  
Faith checks her surroundings for any additional risers, and nods to the woman.  
“Yah. I patrol this area. You’re awfully young for a vampire. I mean I saw you only turned 19 two weeks ago.”  
The woman nods yes.  
“I guess I’ll be this young forever, but yes I think that shouldn’t hurt my chances for survival.”  
Faith shrugs.   
“You know, eternal life isn’t all what it seems. I’ve been around since the 1990’s, and I can’t cope sometimes with the changes all around me.”  
Surprised, the woman tries to dust herself off, but the dirt and grime stains resist all attempts to be brushed aside and sneakily begins stepping subtly towards Faith.   
Faith palms her wooden stake and looks towards the faraway wall as if something was grabbing her attention. When the woman tries to pounce on Faith, she meets the face of the headstone Faith was standing in front of and a boot on the back of her neck. Faith shakes her head.  
“Could have told you it wouldn’t work, but I figured you wouldn’t listen. Do you remember who sired you? You know who made you a vampire?”  
The woman desperately tries to throw faith off of her, but she lacks the strength having just risen.  
“NO! He was a well-dressed guy who obviously was well off. He came up behind me and convinced me he could arrange for me to keep my youth forever, and I jumped at it.”  
“WHERE?”  
Faith was losing her temper, and this guy was the cause of most of her late nights.  
“Behind the Curley Q Club, off of Madison Street! He followed me out, and stayed behind me in the shadows.”  
Before she can plead for her new life, Faith plunges the stake into her back, piercing her heart. The blast of dust into the air tells Faith the duty is done, and she meanders back to her rounds. She lingers near the Curley Q Club until 2 in the morning, until finally giving up on her patrol.  
Getting an earful from Willow as she crashes onto the couch, she hears how horrible Kayla feels now that her body is “practicing” her contractions every hour. Worse, Tara will be up with her and she knows she’ll get more of the news when she sees her. Lying down, her head hits the pillow and she makes two long blinks before passing out.  
April 8, 2033  
San Angeles (7:45pm)

Descending into the underworld of San Angeles just at sunset, Faith passes numerous corridors and lethal niches which untold death lurks just our out of her sight. From a cave worm who sat coiled in the walls to a troll who stayed perpetually drunk, Faith kept on her path to the crowded Cat Market. As the name implies, the primary commodity sold were cats of varying ages, sizes and quantities. Imagining this is what the original purpose of the place was, it was apparent that it changed over time to encompass everything from shoes, clothes, slaves, and your occasional demon was available for purchase. Passing several beer and grilled cat stands, Faith begins walking the market checking out everyone’s wares. Due to her interest, eyes leveled on her suspiciously for being either the slayer or a cop. Fearful that she was the slayer, kept most from approaching her or objecting to her presence. After the first 20 minutes, several shops closed up only increasing the tension. Finally as she begins to tire of the stares and apprehension, her contact finally arrives.  
“They’re scared shitless that you’re going to start shaking things up around here.”  
Faith merely nods in agreement and motions towards the Doro Demon, a hairy single-horned monstrosity who wasn’t taking his eyes off of her.  
“This guy is looking at me as if he wants to start something, and several of your people just closed up and left.”  
Shaking his head, her contact motions towards the demon who unceremoniously drops his eyes.  
“That’s his way of showing respect towards an equal. He’d growl at you or spit in front of your path if he didn’t think you were worthy of his respect. He can sense your strength and experience, and knows you’re here because you earned the right to walk here. You’re the one who fought that true demon last year, right?”  
Faith nods subtly.  
“Is it that obvious? All my scars and bruises healed ages ago.”  
The demon beside her merely laughs.  
“The Doro smell your strength and wisdom; I wish I had that ability! That’s why they never get invited to my poker game. They know when to hold them or fold them against an opponent. Bluffing is fairly pointless around them. They know whether you’re clever enough to pull off a bluff, and if you’re a shark. No fun at all. I know you’re not here to discuss the finer points of demon society, so let me get right to it. They are interested in your proposal. No, they would LOVE to erect a formal end to hostilities between us and humans. The last war hurt the majority of their businesses and a serious truce would be agreeable. What are your thoughts that I can take back to them.”  
Comfortable with his directness, Faith takes out a notebook which Kayla and Willow had worked on until her contractions became unbearable. She hands it to the demon who is legitimately surprised.   
“What do they call you?”  
Opening up the book, and thumbing through the lengthy bullet points, he barely hears Faith and fumbles out his name.  
“Gomik…Hurlbet Gomik. You can call me Hurl. Well I see you’ve given this a lot of thought.”  
Faith nods.  
“I found someone who was at the original signing back when and I found an expert who will be sitting in on this signing as well.”   
The demon stops abruptly and turns white.  
“Huh…who could that be?”  
Faith shakes her head.  
“I’m not at liberty to say until she actually arrives. Until then, she’s the human representative to this accord, to discourage any foul play by either party.”  
Faith notices a crowd of demons have stopped and crowded around them to listen in on their private conversation. Following Kayla’s suggestions, she raises her voice so everyone can hear her.  
“I have made it clear I want peace and law in this town, and that includes everyone down here. If trouble crawls into town, it tends to rear its ugly head here first, and I can deal with it better down here, before it gets everyone all pissed off upstairs. Once the humans up there catch wind of your operations, you know things will get bad down here. Everyone’s lives will be disrupted, and all your businesses will be screwed up. I want our hostilities minimized, your businesses regulated by your ruling government, and a police force to ensure these laws are followed. Your people, enforcing your laws will have a better chance than having me coming around and cracking skulls whenever I see fit.”  
The roar of applause and growls, gives Faith the impression it went over as they planned it out. As the crowd gets riled up, Hurl crosses his arms and smiles. He knew most demons were ready for an official peace, but he never imagined Faith getting his kind to openly welcome it. Nodding in appreciation, he draws Faith from the crowd and bows to her.  
“Well played my distinguished counterpart. You have just won your first hurtle race by rallying the business sector. Now, you must win the support of the elders…that will not be as easy. It might take a bit longer to get them to sit down with you.”  
Faith can only nod.  
“When my person gets here, I’ll bring her here to begin talking to your elders. In the meantime, start swaying their vote. The majority of your people will now want a representative government, so you’re going to have your hands full. Thank you Hurl. I really think law and order is the best for everyone down here.”  
He mulls it over and agrees.  
“I too believe that. Let’s keep the communication lines open.”  
Planning for the possibility, Faith hands him a cell phone.   
“That’s to call me. If you find any trouble that you can’t handle comes into town, don’t hesitate to ask for help.”  
Genuinely surprised, he takes it and smiles.  
“Superb. And I still haven’t got a bead on your skin-walker. It’s been seen only twice, and no one could tell me where it was hiding down here. I’ll continue searching. Oh! And what about the smell in district…”  
Faith stops him before he can finish.  
“I know what you mean! I’m told it should dissipate soon, but I don’t have anything specific.”  
Concerned he nods with some understanding.  
“We had to evacuate that entire area. Well, as long as you’re aware of it. Good evening slayer.”   
He bows dramatically before turning and disappearing into the crowd.   
Faith arrives at the apartment after her patrol to find a note waiting for her. As she reads Tara’s frantic scribbling, her phone rings. Willow, abnormally stressed, yells at Faith to hurry to the hospital with the wedding rings.


	7. 7

April 8, 2033  
San Angeles (9:56pm)

Bursting through the doors of the hospital, it takes Faith an eternity to find the maternity ward. After turning left when she should have gone right, she finds Willow waiting nervously in the lounge area alongside a soon-to-be father who seems as worried as greying redhead. Jumping out of her seat, she wants to scold Faith but restrains herself long enough to get Faith within earshot.   
“Please tell me you got my note.”  
Nodding, Faith scoops into her jacket pocket and produces a small black box. Opening up the spring-loaded hinged lid, it screams contemporary fashion as meager gold loops. With a heavy sigh, Willow relaxes and guides her into the prep area for Faith to change into ORs. After they are changed, a nurse comes and escorts them into a room with Kayla on a bed and three people standing around her in similar attire.   
Rushing to the platinum blonde’s side, Faith reaches out and grasps Kayla’s shaking hand. Tired and fighting the pain of contractions, she releases a meager smile and immediately cringes from a strong pulse of pain.  
The man seated at the door, stands as Faith passes and comes to the side which Faith takes and clears his throat.   
“Let’s begin, shall we? I think our young bride will be a mother sooner than we think.”   
A nurse standing on the opposite side nods her head as she counts the interval between contractions and a strategically placed optical sensor under the blankets.  
Nervously, Faith holds Kayla’s hand as she puts the box with the rings into Tara’s outstretched hands. Faith doesn’t register the words the minister recites, or the cues to take the rings from Tara. For her, every second is remembered by the vice-like grip Kayla keeps, and the painful torque she applies. Starting at a mere minute apart, it slowly decreases to every 20 seconds by the time she’s asked to give her vows. Having practiced them religiously for the past week, she surprises everyone when she delivers them flawlessly. Kayla, numb to the spectacular event, finds the strength to recite hers, pausing only during the contractions. After a few seconds of putting on the rings, the minister recognizes the bride’s worsening state. With a proud nod, the minster asks the fateful question for each of them, and both Faith and Kayla manage agree to wed and kiss before the nurses push everyone but Faith out of the room as Katya decides the moment to be born.  
Sitting in the waiting area, Willow and Tara hold hands as the bustle of nurses come in and out of the delivery room. Tara leans over to kiss Willow, only to catch a glimpse of a person hiding in the shadows. Ducking out of sight as Tara tries to identify them, only gets her more curious. Whispering she’ll be right back, she quickly goes towards the bathroom, but turns away out of site of the stranger. Slipping off her loud pumps, she rushes towards the corner to listen. Talking quietly on a cell phone, Dr. Jeffery clearly is unaware of Tara and speaks freely.  
“Yah, she made it here on time. I don’t know! There is nothing I can legally do now. She is not going to be born a bastard child, and she’s protected by the law. NO! I had no idea that she was going to be born this early! The tests show she’s fully developed, so we can’t keep her here overnight. I’ll talk to the resident doctor to require us to keep her overnight in our care, but no promises. Fine.”  
As she steps around the corner, Tara plants a fist into the doctor’s face, knocking her out cold. As the doctor crumples onto the floor, Tara looks left and right, and sees no onlookers. Holding her fist in pain, she peeks around the corner to where Willow sits and calmly calls out.  
“Willow sweetie? Would you be a doll and come here quickly and give me a hand?”

Faith lies back in the recliner holding baby Katya as Kayla is taken to the operating room to stop up the numerous sources of bleeding which are life-threatening. In an hour, she is wheeled out and the new family is resting in a private recovery room. By 3 o’clock in the morning, Kayla finally gets to hold her baby as Faith looks over them proudly. Kayla, exhausted, constantly beams a smile with tears falling sporadically. With a light covering of red hair on her head, Katya rests in Kayla’s arm. Comfortable and content, she gives the impression that all is right in the world for a short while. It’s only now that Faith realizes the horrendous odor, which had plagued them for the past week, was finally gone. After spending a couple of hours chatting and enjoying the comfortable closeness between them, Faith excuses herself and departs to file the paperwork for her next 3 weeks of leave.   
As she waits for the security guard to sign her out of the hospital, slowed by the computer system, Faith detects an unusual odor crossing her path as she stands at the security counter. She turns to see the back of a man in a doctor’s coat walking calmly towards the elevators. A deep sense of danger mixed with a putrid scent seems to arouse her curiosity and she leaves the station in pursuit. Palming her badge out of her pocket, she rushes to catch up only for the elevator doors to slam shut as she reaches them. Cursing under her breath, she hits the stairs and pulls out her computer. Verbally accessing hospital security system, she sees the 6th floor is selected and orders the elevator to stop at the 3rd floor. Ten seconds later, she stands at the door and orders it open. An average sized man, with no distinctive features stands angrily in the elevator. Faith, lacking any weapons, instinctively puts her hand out to calm him. Ordering to stand still, has no effect as he strides out towards Faith.  
“HEY! I said stop!”  
He casually glances left and right as he closes with Faith. Faith knew it was still an hour before shift change, so most of the halls were going to be devoid of staff or anyone. Not much taller than her, his body language was far too calm and rigid reminding her of a walking wall. When he swung at her, her reflexes had her duck and plant a kick to the inside of his leg to bring him down to one knee. As planned he went down but he only used his planted knee as a pivot point and swept her legs out from her. Instinctual fear took over and she defensively rolled several times to get some space between him and her. As she gets to her feet, he’s right on top of her and slaps her arms and chest with the backside of his hand. Angered, she starts to swing but notices blood dripping to the floor from her clothes.   
Looking down, she sees dozens of open wounds pouring out blood like a picturesque stream. Stumbling backwards, she manages to parry and dodge his next dozen attacks and plants a roundhouse across his head, sending him spiraling backwards. Feeling the life draining away, she hears Kayla screaming in the back of her mind to either escape or end the fight. As he tries to stand, Faith knows she can’t win, but recognizes she dealt him a serious blow that had shaken his confidence to the core. With anger swelling in her heart, she decides to deliver a powerful series of offensive blows and force him to retreat. With a loud roar she swings and misses as he stands; and for the first time in possibly centuries it finds itself on the defense. Dodging, parrying, and every one of Faith’s powerful blows, he begins backing towards the stairs. Finally, with her strength failing Faith lands a full strength punch into his solar plexus sending him tumbling backwards into the stairwell, and down the flight of stairs. Faith remembers the sound of cracking bones as her fist penetrated two inches into his chest, and she stumbles down the stairs as the man turns around to glare at his pursuer. A ghastly face stares back at her, and she ends her chase as he bolts out the doors of the hospital. Calling his grotesque appearance ugly or demonic wouldn’t accurately describe the horridness. Collapsing onto the floor, she creates a huge wet splat sound as she loses consciousness.

Faith wakes to a figure glaring intently at her fluttering eyes. As she focuses, the fuzzy outline of her wife sitting in a hospital gown holding a baby finally becomes a crisp image. As she tries to lift her head up, pain surges through her chest and arms. Kayla shakes her head in disbelief.   
“Even I wouldn’t have tried that. So was it our skin-walker?”  
Faith gently shakes her head.   
“Yah. He had this odor, not as bad as yours of course. He was fast, and I never once saw a weapon. Whatever he touched was cut by only his fingers gliding over me. I have no idea how I’m going to deal with him next time…other than to not let him touch me.”  
Nodding Kayla repositions Katya into her gown and lets her latch to feed.  
“They had to staple your wounds closed, even your slayer healing wasn’t enough. This guy leaves wounds which resist healing. It’s a miracle that the old man survived; he’s just two rooms down from you. You might have some scars from this battle. They gave you 4 pints of blood while they were working on you, and you better stay off your feet for a couple of days. I wouldn’t move those bandages either. If you were a regular human and I’d be a widow right now. They thought you were anemic or something, but after they cleaned the wounds, they were able to get the blood to clot normally. This thing is a bona-fide killer, no doubt there. Oh! Tara is checking me out this evening to stay with her. She feels the vibes aren’t good here, and she wants me to feel safe. Oh, and it’s in my file I don’t like hospitals, so they can’t say no.”  
She smiles cutely and adjusts Katya underneath her gown. Faith nods, and spends the afternoon resting. Kayla spends every minute in the hospital in Faith’s room, until Tara signs her out just past six that night. As Kayla nestles down for the night she cuddles Katya and notices Tara’s bruised hand as she passes. After asking how she did hurt herself, Tara shrugs.  
“Oh this? No idea.”


	8. 8

April 10, 2033  
San Angeles (2:05pm) 

Faith was surprised that they released her after all the work and attention they accomplished on her the morning prior. When they went in to check on her incisions, they were beyond stunned that there were no signs of any injuries or scars. Embedded in the dead scab material, stuck to the bandages, was every staple they used to close her up. After an hour of doctors and surgeons coming by and examining the wounds, they finally agreed to send her home without pain medications or an in-home nurse to visit. Feeling a little stiff from the wounds, she imagines taking it a little easy this week, was on the top of her agenda. Willow snuck away from Kayla just long enough to pick up Faith, and explained the baby’s extensive schedule of feedings and naps. Faith expertly hid her elation for playing the toddler’s parent, fearing that most people would give her too much attention for momentary call to motherhood.  
Faith had no training or experience in this avenue; she couldn’t very well use her slayers skills or Kayla’s extensive combat training to solve any dilemmas the baby presented. She had mentally put off the planning stages of this motherhood, choosing to wing it versus plan anything out. As they pull into the parking lot of her apartment, Faith’s heart races as they get closer. Every step towards her apartment compounded the anxiety welling in her chest. Stepping through doorway, she’s immediately taken back by cleanliness of their apartment. It’s not like Kayla let the house get dirty or untidy, but the degree to which it seemed clean amazed her. The unspecific nature of the cleanliness amazed her. Tara, sitting on the couch, smiles warmly seeing the pair approach. She motions to stay quiet, and speaks in a light whisper.  
“They just fell asleep. Here’s a schedule they’ve been following today. Every day it changes a little bit, but it’s been fairly consistent. Kayla has her normal appetite, but Katya is quite demanding. Kayla has only been able to pump twice, but she hopes that Katya will be satiated better in the next few weeks. If you have any questions or need help don’t hesitate to call.”   
She hugs Faith as she leaves, whispers ‘congratulations,’ and takes Willow’s hand as they walk out the door.  
Faith jumps into the shower as the pair sleep in her bed. Washing away the antiseptic and the clumps of peeling scar tissue, the soreness reminds her of her wounds and how close to death she came. Exiting, she dons a sports bra with matching shorts and slides into bed to watch her two girls sleep. Letting time drift into obscurity, she lays quietly absorbing every moment, sound, and smell. She could never imagine a “newborn” smell, but here she was soaking up every aspect. At that moment she imagined that so few slayers ever have this moment in their lives, and realized she was truly lucky. Kayla would tell her that she was blessed, but that would imply she had some religious bone in her body. Her proximity to the materialistic world didn’t allow her to equate a belief in the divine. Kayla scolded her too often for disbelieving in a divine creator and it was something Faith couldn’t readily accept.   
Faith kept finding herself drawn into theological discussions around Kayla. Even when confronted with the good/evil dilemma, Faith couldn’t admit that there was a powerful force of good, when it was apparent that there were powerful singular forces of evil. Kayla had heard someone say that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing man he didn’t exist. This meant if people didn’t believe he existed, they were far less likely to believe that God exists. She didn’t want to dwell on the issue for only one reason alone. It meant she would have to confront her crimes in the future once again, and that fear kept her from siding with Kayla. Kayla tried to comfort her, but this thought burned at her soul.   
As Faith dwells on her past, Katya begins to stir and searches out for Kayla. Faith gently unbuttons the covering on her left breast and positions Kayla so she could feed. As Faith rubs Katya’s back, Kayla’s eyes flutter open and smiles warmly at Faith.   
“How long have you been here?”  
Faith can’t contain her content and inner joy radiating from her eyes.  
“Long enough. It seems my slayer healing kicked in. Thanks to their surgical work, it just finished up the rest. I’m still sore though. I’ll take it easy for a few days, promise.”  
Kayla smiles, punches Faith’s shoulder with her finger and Faith grimaces. Though she didn’t hit any of the areas where faith had been wounded, Kayla’s strength was equal if not greater than hers.   
“I’ll remember you said that when you go out patrolling. Speaking of patrolling, in a couple of weeks Katya should be okay taking the bottle, and maybe we can do some patrolling together.”  
Faith, genuinely surprised, smiles at the prospect.  
“Two of us walking the streets? What will evil do? They’ll go nuts out there! Might even leave town. Kind of like that idea.”  
Kayla reaches out and rubs Faith’s arm.  
“And that’s why I love you.”  
As Katya gets her fill, she drifts back into a nap and Kayla lays her in Faith’s arms to sleep. The momentary panic then bliss washes across Faith visage, and Kayla fights from laughing. Faith carries her into the living room and she sits on the couch as the newborn sleeps in her arms. Kayla gets her shower done, and sits down next to Faith, who sits with an unusual expression of fear, happiness and bliss all in one holding Katya.   
Faith perks up seeing Kayla, remembering a short conversation from before she left the hospital.  
“Oh! Chief Earle extended his personal congratulations on our little girl’s birth, and Lenina wound up doing the leave paperwork for me. So now I have a week off for recovery and three weeks of paid post birth leave. Basically I only need to worry about you two for the next month.”   
Kayla smiles and seems to record the thought.  
“I’ll add them to my thank you list. Did you know some weird stuff went down that night of Katya’s birth? Aside from our hasty marriage, Katya’s early and fully developed birth, and your fight with the Skin-Walker, that Doctor Jeffery was attacked and knocked unconscious. Whoever did it tossed her in the dirty clothes bin and locked her in the utility room. Maintenance found her later the next morning when the staff couldn’t get in. They had to cut the lock off to get her out, and it took them all afternoon to do it. She says she never saw who did it, and they just smashed her phone and took her keys. They found them in her office. Weird huh?”  
Faith nods, not knowing how to rationalize or explain the event. Kayla continues after a long pause.  
“Did you ever figure out why it was in the hospital? The Skin-Walker. Did he give you any clues?”  
Faith shakes her head. “Nah. It was on its way to the sixth floor, and I stopped him on the third.”  
Kayla nods, and her eyes brightens as she remembers her visit to Faith’s room.  
“OH! You were on the sixth floor.”  
Faith looks at her in surprise.  
“Really? I honestly don’t remember.”  
Kayla thinks hard and nods.  
“You were only a couple of rooms down from the old man…I bet he was there about the same time your Skin-Walker was going into the hospital!”  
Standing, Faith carries Katya around the room with her as she scoops up her police phone and ties it with the Fiber-Op system in their apartment. In minutes, Officer Lenina Huxley fills the view screen listening to Faith’s story and theory after spending the first minute admiring Katya in Faith’s arms. Lenina nods in agreement, seeing the possible connection and the attacker’s probable destination. Saying she and Officer Spartan will take over the case while she recovers and returns to duty, she also accepts Kayla’s advice to brief medical staff that the wounds from the killer must be thoroughly cleaned in order to get them to heal right.  
With the rush of emotion and exhilaration fading, Faith bids them good day and ends the call. As the pair settle down on the couch, Katya reawakens and they enter into a routine of care and attention for the three of them. With Faith’s improved cooking skills, they have little worry of starvation or food poisoning.  
Faith awakens to the incessant ringing of a cell phone parked on her dresser. The silver and black model whose mate was given to the half-demon Gomik, screams for attention and wakens Faith at just an hour past 4 in the morning. Jumping up, she immediately silences it and takes the phone to the other room to answer. Twenty minutes later, she is striding into the Cat Market and sees three huge bruisers waiting for her. Not long ago, if they had given her that stare, it would have resulted in a bashing of heads against tables. They nod at her, and lead her silently to an elaborately constructed building, which once served as a bank before the big one. Almost immediately Faith recognizes the distinctive reworking and construction of reinforced walls and bars. Gomik stands from his desk off the side of the main entrance, and greets Faith with a strangely warm smile.  
“Slayer! It’s a pleasure to see you! Come in!”  
After exchanging handshakes, he proudly presents his new central office for her review. Faith can’t contain her awe.  
“Damn Gomik! I’m impressed! You all did this? This is fucking fantastic!”  
Nodding in appreciation he subtly motions for the bruisers who escorted her in, to line up alongside a dozen other demons. Ranging in size from Kayla’s height to almost eight feet tall, the demons seem to take pride in their numbers and jobs. Gomik points out a silver amulet each of them display on their chests.  
“I had a silver smith design and make four dozen of these badges. We only have the first fifteen done, but they are wearing them pretty well. I handpicked these guys. I had to be certain they would be open for the job, and not abuse their authority. Crime amongst us has dropped considerably. Theft is down seriously, as are violent crimes…violent for us demons at least.”  
A low chuckle roars through the ranks and Faith sees the humor as well. Faith contains her laughter so she can reply.  
“You’ve exceeded what I thought you could accomplish in such a short of time, Gomik. This is truly awesome work, I’m proud of you and your people. It took weeks for them to pull their heads out of their asses upstairs. You did it, and more. This is cool!”  
Gomik smiles and dismisses the line of demons and motions for Faith to follow him further into the jail.   
“This isn’t the real reason I called you. Well, yah, I wanted to brag and show off a bit, but I have a guy in lock up who ran into your Skin-Walker.”  
Confused, Faith looks at him.  
“You locked him up?”  
Nodding, Gomik explains.  
“I locked him up for his own safety. He and the SW got into a financial disagreement, and the SW nearly killed him after he healed him up. I’m working on getting a true-sight spell erected on the entrance, so it will show him for who he truly is, in case he tries to come in here. Fortunately, he was immune to the SW’s anti-coagulation magic, but he still got cut up really bad. He said he had to deliver a message to you from him. I told him if it was some sorry-ass scare warning, I’d finish what the SW started, and he assured me it wasn’t. He’s a Triblon. Fantastic healers and nullifiers of curses, but their touch can also suck the life from a victim, so I suggest talking to him from a distance.”  
Nodding Faith, gets about ten feet from the steel bars of the cell and waits. She is surprised that he doesn’t look worse. With blood-soaked rags covering him, he rouses when Gomik kicks the bars.  
“Slayer? Yes, of course it is. The Skin-Walker tricked me into healing him through false payment, and for that he is cursed by all my people. We are the only ones who can heal him fast; no other has that ability aside from magic spells. You hurt him critically…he was near death. I know I have to tell you that, as he violated my trust and the trust of my people. He wanted me tell you that the next time you fight him, it will be personal…he has added you to his list, whatever that means.”  
Gomik steers Faith away and whispers his personal insights.  
“The Skin-Walkers are contract killers. They don’t kill for pleasure or to feed. The only reason this guy is stalking humans, is because he’s been paid to by his people. You find out why they want those people dead, you’ll be on the fast track to stopping your problems upstairs.”   
With little fanfare, she thanks Gomik and meanders back to her apartment to make breakfast.


	9. 9

April 11, 2033  
San Angeles (8:15am) 

The smell of faux bacon rouses Kayla out of her bed. Scooping Katya into her arms, she deposits her in the rarely used cradle. After a quick stop in the bathroom, she slips on a robe and finds Faith working on breakfast in the kitchen. Impressed, she quietly comes up behind Faith and wraps her arms around her wife’s waist. Leaning her head on Faith’s back, Kayla purrs relishing for the simple closeness they exchange. Faith quickly breaks the hug to rescue the eggs from the stove and sets them off the heat. The crying from the bedroom makes Kayla head briskly to gather up Katya and Faith pauses as she contemplates how not a single word had resonated off the walls and it wasn’t a horrible thing. Faith snaps out of her daze in time to plate breakfast and set the table before Kayla returns with Katya hidden under her sleep shirt.  
Faith waits for Kayla to sit and she is driven to gently push the chair up to the table keeping Katya content and comfortable. Setting Kayla’s plate in front of her, she sits to their right and waits for Kayla to begin before she picks up her fork. Kayla thanks her and sighs dramatically.  
“It’s okay to talk. It’s the only way she’ll get used to noise. Do you want her waking up every time a mouse farts, or you stake a vamp?”  
Laughing Faith chuckles out in response.  
“A ‘mouse fart?’ Where did you hear that one?”  
Kayla rolls her eyes.  
“You get what I mean, right? She has to get used to noise and bumps in the night. If not, we’ll never get a single night’s rest.”  
Changing the subject, Faith simply shakes her head before continuing.  
“So, do you think she’ll continue to grow like she did inside of you?”   
Kayla can only shrug.  
“It’s anyone’s guess right now. This has never happened before, and I doubt it will ever happen again. I have given the go for Tara to chronicle everything that’s happened so far; minus names, of course. You never know when someone might need to know what happened here in a thousand years or so. So far Katya is growing normal now that she’s out of me, but there’s no telling. Have you looked into the old man who was attacked?”  
Faith nods her head and leaves the table, only to return with a file folder. With a hand-scribbled name on the top, Kayla notices the name ‘Duck’ and represses a chuckle.  
“There’s zilch on this guy, but his son…well there’s a story there. He’s survived the Cocteau administration, and was picked up by the Friendly administration. Apparently he’s an ‘astute’ manager and analyst. That’s the word everyone uses to describe him…whatever that’s supposed to mean.”  
Shaking her head, Kayla finishes her breakfast as Katya finishes up underneath her shirt.  
“What exactly does he do?”  
Faith shrugs.  
“He’s in the city finance department. They’ve been under the microscope a lot lately. Cocteau was doing a lot of under-handed shit that we’re only uncovering just now. It seems he was giving a lot of bribes to defense contractors to give him exclusive access to the city’s computer network, and only now are we discovering he was dirty as they come. I’m forwarding Lena my notes this morning. I do my best brainstorming while I’m waiting for vamps to rise. This is crazy! I’m thinking like a cop, and I think I love it!”  
As Kayla recovers from her hysterical laughter, she lovingly cuddles Katya and goes to the couch.  
“Girl, you’re just refocused, no different than you were before. You’re intense and just can’t let stuff go now that you’ve had a serious infusion of success. Now as much as I love how you cradle us when I’m feeding her in bed, I’m stockpiling my milk now and I want you to start feeding Katya. She’ll really bond to you; and who knows, maybe we can start patrolling together in a few weeks.”  
Faith pulls herself out of the conversation to imagine Kayla fighting side by side with her against demons and vampires. Shaking her head in disbelief, she returns her attention to Kayla who is lost in her head. Blinking her eyes, she searches out Faith and speaks.  
“You need to look at this accountant or whatever he is. I think his grandfather was just a warning. I bet if you all grill him over, he’ll sing like a canary. This skin walker isn’t local, and I bet some heavy-hitter from out of town hired him. It’s what I would have done, at least.”  
Faith grins as she slides up to Kayla.  
“Wow, look at my girl thinking like one of the enemies.”  
Kayla rolls her shoulder in a shrug; and in a bland expression continues.  
“Skin Walkers are contract killers for the most part, it seems. Yah, there could be freelancers out there, but from everything we’ve seen, it sounds like he’s trying to fulfill a contract. Didn’t you say next time it would ‘be personal.’ I’m willing to bet money that someone wants to keep Mr. Mallard in line.”  
Faith twists her mouth.  
“I didn’t see it that way. I’ll make sure I include that to Lenina.”  
Nodding, Kayla plays with Katya in her arms as she speaks.  
“So how’s my class coming along without me? I want to get back to it as soon as the doctor gives me the okay.”  
Faith scoops her data pad out from her backpack and hands it over.  
“I’ve been keeping track of everyone. Some are coming along better than others, but Alicia is doing an awesome job leading the jujitsu group. Oh! John is doing great in the jujitsu class, though he doesn’t want to admit it. We got 60 officers in two classes, and the chief is more than pleased with what you have started. Cops are reporting that they are more confident in responding to fights and disturbances; and injuries involving officers is down 28%. The chief made sure I got his quarterly report to the Mayor, and it mentioned your name specifically.”  
With a firm smile, Kayla notices Katya drifting into sleep, and lays her in Faith’s arms.  
“Alicia learned Jujitsu very fast while we were on the road. She’ll get them through the first three degrees, but then will need help. By the way, I got an email from a law firm which used to handle my case way back. They are going to meet the mayor when he goes to the capitol. They are going to petition for full pardon or dismissal of my conviction. In the time I was out, they amassed enough witnesses and evidence to get a federal judge to overturn the prior conviction, and order a new trial, especially since I survived the destruction of the cryo-facility. The Feds turned it over to the state to decide if they want to do a retrial or pardon. They are hoping with the Mayor’s and Chief Erwin’s testimony, they will be more likely to do a full clemency versus pardon.”  
Faith just stares at her, unsure how to respond. Smiling Kayla continues.  
“It means that they are going to say the conviction never occurred versus just forgiving me for committing the crime. The latter wouldn’t clear my name, while a clemency would. It’s very important to me. I heard that because you were a minor at the time of your crime, they might pardon you and thereby wipe your felony conviction from your record. This will green-light your full membership as a cop, or whatever you call it.”  
With better understanding, Faith nods.  
“I get it. Do I need to know how you heard all this?”  
Kayla shakes her head no.  
“Probably not. My little helper out there is in everyone’s business. All it usually takes is the mentioning of my name, and it will zero in. You know how some witches and warlocks use small servants called imps?”  
Kayla rolls her eyes seeing Faith aimlessly staring at her, and chuckles before continuing.  
“Well, they do, and I use something similar. It’s…complicated.”   
Faith reaches out and strokes Kayla’s nearby leg.  
“When isn’t it ‘complicated’ with you?”   
Chuckling, Faith leans back in the couch trying to make sense of the past year, and drifts into a light slumber with Katya napping in her arm. 

Faith settles back into her couch cradling Katya as she drinks out of a bottle, while on the video screen Lenina and John pace around the nervous Mr. Mallard, unsure as to the reason he’s been summoned. Though she was technically on leave, she’d arranged to sit in on the questioning; and with the headset, she could listen in and interact without disturbing Katya or Kayla sleeping in the bedroom. With the passing around of the standard questions about work and findings, Faith could see the obvious frustration building. Mr. Mallard, tight-lipped and patient, was far too calm and collected for Faith, and she was thankful she wasn’t in that room. Calmly answering each of their questions without breaking a sweat, Faith gives up remaining silent and keys her mic to Lenina.   
“Ask him if he loves his father? If he doesn’t talk, we won’t be able to protect him from this killer!”  
Faith bites her tongue as Katya becomes agitated by Faith’s tone. Lenina flashes an annoyed glare at the camera and turns to the accountant.  
“It’s apparent that they have targeted your father. And unless you help us understand why, I guess we’ll have to pull our officers at the hospital. Right Officer Spartan?”  
John rolls his eyes at the camera and grins. He turns back to Mr. Mallard wearing his stone cold face.   
“You’re absolutely correct Officer Huxley.”  
John pulls out his data pad and acts like he’s sending a message to the hospital officers.  
As they hoped, ‘Mr. Duck’ finally began to quack to the right tune. Pleading to them, Lenina and John sit down across from him and take notes as he spends the remainder of the day explaining the extraneous illegal activity of the late Dr. Cocteau. Hidden in years of secret accounting logs, the pair realized that their day had only just begun.


	10. 10

April 15, 2033  
San Angeles (2:15pm) 

Pushing the stroller into the gymnasium, Faith strides in alongside Kayla toting her baby/diaper bag over her shoulder. Faith, lugging the portable changing station the department bought for them, sets it up off the side of the platform Kayla would be standing upon during the practice sessions. In half an hour, Alicia is finished spreading out all the exercise mats with a number of other officers and everyone is sitting on the floor stretching. After an hour of stretching and going over what they have learned so far, Kayla breaks them up into pairs and have them spar until they have to leave. Faith, concentrating on the recent enlistees to the class with Alicia, spits her time between walking the rows of students while pushing Katya around in her stroller. As she corrects the sloppy form of a pair of recent academy graduates, she glances over to see Kayla spending all her time teaching the advanced students additional techniques.   
Kayla demonstrates a complicated disarming move against an armed combatant, and she can see John and several others unimpressed. She breaks them up and goes through the group to see who’s far more advanced than she first believed. Setting them up to spar, she sees John progressed far beyond she first thought, incorporating his special forces training into what she had taught him. Watching him easily defeat Gregory and Helena simultaneously, Kayla stops them as they jump back up to reengage with him. Tossing aside her towel, she closes with him, and he seems reluctant to fight his instructor; Kayla breaks that barrier after she easily breaks a nearly unbreakable hold he had on her. As he executes precise moves as he was taught, he can’t hide his surprise as Kayla effortlessly shifts her weight avoiding each attack as if he intended to miss. When she repeats this pattern, she notes his building fury and finally chooses to connect as he lunges for an elbow strike. The speed which she spun around was beyond his comprehension and sent him face first onto the mats. Behind Helena, Lenina whispers into her ear.  
“I’ve only seen that in the movies.”   
John spends a minute lying there before he pushes himself up and to his feet to bow politely. Kayla returns the gesture and addresses the students.  
“Size means nothing when you lose patience. His brutal strength should have meant he would wipe me across the floor twice. Sometimes you must have the greater resolve to wear down your foe, especially when they can out punch you blow for blow. I could have tried to out hit him, but I wanted to show you how patience was my greatest tool in his defeat. I knew I could avoid him just long enough to make him do what I wanted him to do. You will discover most of your brawls on the beat will resemble this exercise, except your opponent won’t have the amount of training as John did. John, you did an awesome job at keeping your temper in check, and all I was waiting for was for you to slip up just once, momentarily. Remember, this is not just a physical battle, your mind and spirit are also in the battle, and you must keep them in line at all times. Most fights are just one or two successful blows executed at the precise opportune moment. Right John?”   
Grudgingly, John Spartan shakes his head in approval.  
“Yah. The right punch here, the smashing of their heads into the wall there, but two or three is normal. Overall that’s about right.”  
Kayla smiles and slaps his shoulder making sure they have no lingering emotions.  
“In the class here, we are above the typical barroom brawler, thus we have to use more moves to defeat one another. This exercise demonstrates that I was clearly out classed, and these are the tactics I chose to use to defeat him. Another individual, I might choose to feign great weakness or inferiority just to get him into a vulnerable or compromising situation. You’ll learn this by raw experience, I can’t teach all of that. What I am training you for, is how to deal with it when you are thrust into brawl or aggressive situation. I’m giving you the training to react without thinking about reacting. This will hopefully keep you alive or conscious long enough to have your head assess the situation and determine your best course of action. Dodging and avoiding blows may not seem as effective as a straight forward attack, but it will keep you up and on your feet long enough to decide if you should call for back up, engage the foe, or simply bring the fight into a safer area free of innocents and sharp objects.”  
A low chuckle carries through the group from Kayla’s emphasis of her last words. After getting them back into sparring, Kayla sneaks away to get Katya while Faith is engrossed with the newest trainees. Taking out a bottle from the bag, she picks her up and carries around the room while she reviews the seniors. Yelling corrections as she paces the floor, she almost jumps when Faith comes behind her to relive her of Katya. As the second shifters rush out to shower before starting their shift, Kayla makes sure she thanks each one for coming. As the first and third shift officers finish up, Kayla spends nearly an hour chit-chatting like old times. Katya turns out to be the life of the conversations, but Kayla takes it all in stride. As the last of the gear is stowed in the storage room, Faith has everything loaded into the van by the time John and Lenina meet up to discuss the investigation of Mr. Mallard. With Kayla sitting on a bleacher surrounded by various senior students, Faith quickly gets an update. John steps up before Lenina can speak.  
“His story checks out. We had our accountants dive into his books, and verified the illegal crap Cocteau was doing. They’re trying to uncover who his outside contacts were, but I think it was the mob.”  
Lenina nods and steps in.  
“We of course have no evidence to support that theory, but it sounds reasonable after all we’ve learned of our dear departed patriarch.”  
Faith fights from laughing in her face.  
“Okay. So we have a mob directed hit on Mr. Mallard’s father to keep him quiet. How long is it until this…” Faith fights blurting out ‘skin-walker,’ and scrambles to find the best word in her inventory. “…assassin, decides to silence our only witness who’s singing like Elton John?”  
John smirks loudly while the joke flies over Lenina’s head with meters of clearance.  
“And that’s exactly what I told Chief. He doesn’t see it happening with him locked up in jail.”  
Shaking her head, Faith sees this only going from bad to worse. In a whisper, she draws her partners in.  
“How about I tell you this guy is a master impersonator. There’s no one he can’t look like and resemble including you, Lenia or me. The only flaw he has is B.O. He has a serious odor problem and it’s the only thing we got on him. It was disgusting, and you can’t miss it. Worse yet, he has some hand weapons which are coated with some kind of anti-coagulant. I think they are implants in his hands, so even though he might not look like he’s holding a weapon, he’s lethal.”  
Lenina is flabbergasted and shakes her head.  
“This is your same un-sub.”  
John fights laughing and rubs the bridge of his nose.  
“She’s been hitting the vintage TV shows…Criminal Minds I think she said.”  
Faith shakes her head.  
“Still no idea what that is, either before or after my time. Anyways, our killer can look like anyone he wants and we need some sort of way to know who’s real and not.”  
Lenina is the first to speak up.  
“Well, we can enforce scanning all IDs against their code-fix, and issue body armor to our people in sensitive areas. This way he won’t be able to cut them in critical areas of their bodies, and we might be able to incapacitate him.”   
Impressed, John shakes his head.  
“Not too bad Officer Huxley.”   
John turns to Faith and continues.  
“Don’t suppose you want to reveal to us how you know all this about our assassin? I mean, I get the B.O. but him being excellent at disguises?”  
Faith rolls her eyes smiles nervously.  
“Like any good cop, I have my private sources?”  
Skeptically, John nods and excuses himself. After he leaves the gym, Faith turns to Lenina who’s stretching on a mat next to her.  
“So how’s it working with Officer Spartan again? I mean after you two chilled out last year, how are things like working together again?”  
Lenina shrugs dispassionately.   
“Well…he’s seeing Maria in dispatch…he likes the large naturally endowed type. Anyways, we’re amicable and I kind of missed the energy we had. We may not be intimate anymore, but we definitely have that creative spark still.”  
Faith stays quiet as Kayla sneaks up behind and places her hands on Lenina’s shoulders.  
“Well, you can always join the all-girl team. I think I heard once I can get a free toaster oven with each new girl I bring over. I have plenty of testimonials, and you have all the prerequisites.”   
With a heavy sigh, Lenina rolls her eyes and gets on her knees.  
“I don’t think I’m ready to “switch” teams just yet, thank you. I have a few prospects still, so the well hasn’t dried up just yet.”  
Laughing, Kayla helps Lenina up.  
“Okay, but don’t wait until the last second. I know a few healthy and vivacious choices around town that could be snagged up if you wait too long.”   
Patting Kayla on her shoulder, she reassures her.  
“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Kayla couldn’t believe she was sitting at her favorite tea house, away from Katya. With Willow and Tara hawking over her protectively, she had no worries for Katya’s safety. Originally a fire-station, the technological improvements made the area of coverage for the department practically double in the past decade. With the need for fire response units dramatically cut, a shrewd entrepreneur bought the building and established the first tea house in the city: Taco Bell’s House of Tea. Every time the name rolled off her tongue, she had to fight from laughing hysterically. For two days now, she’d been able to afford a quiet moment of peace and reflection while Faith ran around town investigating the location of their murderous skin-walker. As she finished her cup, the hair on the back of her neck stiffened and a shiver of ice rolled down her back. As suddenly as it began, a loud woman loses her balance bumps into Kayla from behind. Kayla, in a blink of an eye, leaves her chair and prepares to engage the powerful demon who was complaining to the staff that she didn’t have to pay her tab. As if she were blinded by a thousand suns, she quickly pushes away from Kayla in horror to get her bearings. Wearing a slinky red and black dress, the golden-haired woman seems to have lost all her confidence seeing Kayla and stammers out her apologies. Unimpressed, Kayla slowly approaches her, and the blonde sees no escape without passing Kayla. Pressing her advantage, Kayla hisses out at her.  
“Is there a problem Miss Glori…”  
The woman interjects before Kayla can finish.  
“It’s just Glory now. No! No, there’s no problem. I was just about to have my servant…I mean my aide come pay my bill.”   
With an angry and desperate glare, she beckons a small man to step forward and pay the bill using the newly instituted cash system. Unable to comprehend her submissive stance, he obeys without question, and Glory seems to wait to be released by Kayla’s glare. When the tab is paid, Kayla simply nods and stops Glory as she passes. In a very low whisper she seethes at the tall imposing blonde.  
“Demi-god or not, play nice. Everyone remains civil here. Don’t go the way Baal went.”  
Nodding, Glory starts to leave, and Kayla grabs her upper arm and squeezes. Glory cringes in pain, and stops. Kayla speaks softly to her.  
“I didn’t hear you.”  
Immediately she blurts out.  
“Yes! Yes, I heard you. I’ll follow the code.”  
Releasing her arm, she lets the blonde slink away in a panic and sits back down to enjoy her tea. Passing Faith on her way from the table, she keeps walking and Kayla watches her catch a taxi. As Faith sits down, she can’t simply let what just happened go. As she asks, Kayla says only a few words and drops the topic.  
“Sweetie, she’s someone you must never cross or get in her way. Promise me!”  
In shock Faith nods.   
“No problem. You got it! Why though?”  
After taking two good sips from her cup she takes a deep breath and releases it.  
“Faith, there are some things in the universe you’ll always struggle to defeat; and then there are a few beings like her which you have virtually no hope in ever defeating. She’s a special kind of evil; and despite all your strength and ingenuity, its best to turn the other cheek and walk away.”   
Silence descends on the pair as she finishes her tea and they return to their apartment together with Kayla leaning on her shoulder.


	11. 11

April 16, 2033  
San Angeles (8:35pm) 

Doting nervously over Katya, Kayla does her fourth check on the baby bag for Willow and Tara despite Faith’s continuous objections. As she begins to inventory the bag for the fifth time, Faith pulls her up and away from the bag scolding her.  
“It’s fine! Let’s go! The demon counsel won’t wait all night for us.”  
With a deeply stressed sigh, Kayla let’s Faith steer her towards the door carrying Katya. After a brief walk, they arrive at Willow and Tara’s abode and unload the three bags of baby supplies. Entering Kayla tries to hide her reluctance to leave Katya with her sitters. With sweaty palms and beads forming across her brow, she reluctantly sets her in the crib in the bedroom. Behind her, she hears Alicia and Lacey enter, setting their belongings down, and join Kayla. As they hover over the newborn, Kayla knows her baby is in good hands. Refusing to speak, she excuses herself as Faith gives them a written schedule of feeding times and many erroneous particulars. Sitting on the couch, Kayla nervously tries to dismiss her anxiety and get into right mindset for the task down below.  
With her head racing, Kayla is torn away from her thoughts with the bedroom door suddenly opening. Striding out carrying bright red robes on their arms, Willow and Tara set down their bags and robes. Placing the robes in the bags, they motion towards their wrists and walk towards the door. Almost immediately Faith appears at her feet, and Kayla resigns to leaving. Standing, she lets them lead her out and after half an hour walking the streets, they arrive at a nearby entrance to the lower city. Donning her long white robe, Kayla looks it over once, before leaping effortlessly down the open hole. Shaking their heads in annoyance, Tara and Willow take out their robes from the bags and stash the empties in a nearby bush. Shrugging, Faith laughs. As she turns to follow Kayla, a brown-robed man appears with two lesser monks following in his wake. After exchanging simple pleasantries with Willow and Tara, they look down into the open manhole. Faith wastes no more time joining Kayla and glides down the ladder. Taking their time climbing down, they find Faith and Kayla pacing around investigating the length of the tunnel. As Willow helps Tara down the last few rungs, the sound of heavy boots grab their attention, and they move quickly to intercept it. Though Faith is standing defiantly in the path, Tara shifts her to the left to let her greet the four bulky demons. Wearing boots weighing nearly twenty pounds apiece, they seem unencumbered by the metal footwear. Faith mumbles they are okay to Tara upon seeing their silver badges, and steps forward to greet them with an open hand.  
“Gomik! It’s great to see you!”  
Shaking his hand, along with his deputies, Faith introduces them to Tara and Willow, the three priests, and simply refers to Kayla as “Bukata” or “Anointed One.” Surprisingly, the demon officers bow dramatically to Kayla in respect and turn to escort them to the counsel hall. Walking briskly with Tara and Willow bringing up the rear behind Kayla, they spend another ten minutes walking through the lower city tunnels until exiting into the cat market. Faith has to hide her amazement when she sees hundreds of demons lined up along every wall to pay respect for the Child of Light. Though she imagines most just want to observe their version of the boogeyman, wondering if she really exists, Faith protectively eyes the crowd for any signs of trouble. With Tara and Willow more concerned with procedures and appearance, Faith wishes she could have more officers surrounding them as protection, but understands anymore might seem like weakness or fear to the surrounding demons.   
Directed into the assembly hall, Faith finds the “Pentacallus” or the Counsel of Five standing as they enter. As the massive doors swing closed, Faith notices only Gomik remains inside with his officers standing guard outside. With the five taking their seats at the farthest end of the round room, Willow, Tara, and the three priests sit down facing the demons. Gomik takes his place behind the counsel, while Faith and Kayla takes seats at the extreme left and right, between the two arbitrating sides facing each other. As silence blankets the room, Kayla clears her throat and begins.  
“In the year 1750, the demon counsel of Fen, and a committee of 135 separate human representatives came together in Brussels and established the longest peace accord between the demon realm and the human realm. For 189 years, this peaceful coexistence was maintained and enforced by both sides against various zealot elements from their respective realms. Aside from these wildcards, the peace stood as a standard which has yet been equaled. Tonight we do not have hundreds of different borders, governments, and religions to negotiate with. Instead, we have 10 respectable and powerful leaders who wish to create a standard which our brethren surrounding us might take notice with envy and awe. My purpose tonight is not to force or coerce any side into compliance. What you decide tonight must be done out of freewill and understanding so that enforcement is done willingly, not due to contract obligations. What you establish now will set precedence for future generations to abide by, not just those in the here and now. From my understanding, you have exchanged numerous proposals, and you believe you have finalized the accord. So, let’s hear the final version, vote on it, and sign your names to it.”  
As the demonic speaker begins, Kayla takes notes through ought the reading, marking various sections for revision. Faith never imagined the process could be so mind-numbingly boring. The first two hours, devoted to simply reading the accord, was quickly replaced with fine-tuning the articulation of each point, and removing doubt from the wording. When they eventually addressed the law enforcement portion, Faith finally felt valued as both the demon counsel and priests actually pinged her with questions and her opinions. The best news from the conversation was the creation of a human enforcement division, capable of keeping the peace topside when Faith or another slayer was not present. Kayla lets the discussion continue until a sudden lull appears.  
“In the past, the catholic church maintained an elite force of warriors and priests to counter significant demon and human zealot activity in the human realm. After World War 2, it was disbanded, but I’m sure this would be grounds to reactivate the unit.”  
The eldest priest nods his head in agreement.  
“I feel that is best as well. I will brief that to the pope when I see him next week. They may have similar units active already, and we will simply have them tasked to create one locally and such. It’s all within acceptable parameters of the accord.”  
Content with his answer, Kayla sits back lets the negotiations continue unabated and tweaks the wording of obscure sections as they present themselves. As dawn looms closer, Kayla and Faith direct the signing of the individual sections by each representative. Mostly symbolic, the agreement that the wording was fair and acceptable to both sides was essential prior to the final version of the accord. After each of the 46 sections is signed, Kayla has Faith take digital pictures of the documents. With it complete and dawn looming on the horizon, Gomik goes to the doors and lets a small servant enter. Going to the center of the room, he bows ritualistically to all parties and waits to be addressed. Toma, the demon prince of High Town, speaks with his powerfully booming voice.  
“You are charged with the writing of the accord with all the points included, leaving not one word out. When you finish, we will meet again, read it out, and make the accord official.”  
A thundering gong rings in the cat market, signaling the end of the negotiations. Wearily, both sides exit and go their separate ways. Leading the human delegation back, Faith walks with Gomik and his deputies. Chatting about the crimes and disturbances on both sides, they agree that they have to meet more often than once a week to discuss current events. Finally as they reach the manhole, they decide on the cell phone was the best method to date. After shaking hands, the first priest exits the lower realm and the remaining men patiently wait their turn at the bottom.  
As the second monk climbs, a man’s horrid scream breaks the atmosphere of the evening’s success. As the second monk is grabbed and effortlessly pulled out up and out of the tunnel, Kayla is the first to shove the last monk clear and shoves the rest out of way. As she tenses up she screams at Faith.  
“Follow the plan! Tara, follow me!”  
As Faith fights the instinct to follow her wife up the ladder, Willow grabs her arm and pulls her towards the preplanned escape route. With Gomik leading the way Willow wrangles the remaining priest along the twisting path. After three minutes, they suddenly stop as they are deposited in the remains of a fire station, empties long ago, it was suddenly filled with dozens of demons armed with makeshift weapons. As Faith’s temper begins to boil over against all demons, Gomik surprises her.  
“Brother! What’s this about?”  
A demon closely resembling Gomik shoves another bruiser aside to speak.  
“You’re going to take your officers and walkaway little brother.”  
Faith cannot miss the anger flashing across his face.  
“I can’t do that bro. I gave my word nothing would happen to them while they are here.”  
With a snarl he steps closer.  
“I don’t give a fuck! You are little brother, and you will obey!”  
Shaking his head Gromik subtly places his hand on his sword.  
“Afraid not big brother…not this time. Not anymore. We want change and the old ways are out.”  
As he stalks closer, he unsheathes his sword, a wide front heavy blade.  
“Last chance. I won’t hesitate taking you down! I still got eight more brothers once you’re gone.”  
Gomik shakes his head in disbelief.  
“This is your last chance. Walkaway big brother and take your goons with you.”  
It surprises no one as Gomik’s brother screams obscenities as he strikes. Faith slams two demons against each other hoping to overwhelm her, and Willow vaporizes three vampires with one of her globes. As she ducks a club designed to behead her, she magically rams a large cement block into the gut of her attacker followed by it rising abruptly knocking him out cold. Holding the block in the air, she eyes three demons charging the helpless priest and launches it. The first demon never saw it coming and his head cracked noticeably when it hit, while the one took the block into their chest and the other tripped on it as it fell to the floor. Taking the initiative, the only free demon cop scoops the priest up in his arm and bolts towards the exit, knocking clear numerous demons like a monstrous footballer. After he disappears down the hall, Willow turns to helping the team by hurling massive blocks at the demons while Faith and the remaining officers try to keep anyone from getting too close to her. And just as quickly as it began an eerie lull descends upon them. Gomik, bleeding profusely, lays his brother’s head to the ground. Having captured his dying breath in his ear, he respectfully covers the body and checks if any of his officers are still alive. Taking the badges off their bodies, he pockets them and staunches his blood loss.   
Faith hobbles over to Willow who’s sporting a fresh purple patch on the left side of her face and bloody robes; overall, she seemed far better off than most in the room. After checking the bodies, Gomik points out the missing officer and priest, reminding Willow of their early escape. Scraping up their remaining strength, they continue down the path. After fifteen minutes, they exit the sewers to find Gomik’s surviving officer sitting next to the priest on a park bench sharing a six-pack of home brew. Both looking like they’ve been rolled over a few times, they wave towards them and reluctantly stand. The priest, thoroughly inebriated, warmly grabs the shoulder of the officer as he speaks.  
“This man…err guy…is fantastic! He personally put down three of them while carrying me.”  
Shaking their heads, they escort him to a police station. After a quick call, a police van gets him to his hotel and they are on the radio to discover the fate of Tara and Kayla. Holding Faith back from racing to the original exit point, Willow calls Lacey and confirms her suspicions. Saying farewell to Gomik, they get a lift to the hospital and are given Tara and Kayla’s room numbers.


	12. 12

April 17, 2033  
San Angeles (05:15am) 

As the second priest disappears up the ladder, pulled by a gargantuan hand, Kayla screams to follow the predetermined plan and leaps up and out of the manhole in one jump. Tara curses Kayla’s athleticism and begins to quickly climb up the rungs. Barely poking her nose out, she sees Kayla scrapping it out between a mammoth hairy troll and a clawed man. Dodging the lethal claws and the troll’s massive swinging hammer, she draws them further away from the downed and bleeding priests letting Tara sneak to their sides. Reaching the second priest first, she immediately notices the heavy flow of blood from his belly and chest and casts a purification spell over his wounds, before casting a wound-binding spell to stop the extreme blood loss. Instructing him to keep pressure on the wounds as long as he can, she leaves him to creep to the eldest monk’s side. Her heart sinks as she feels his cold stillness and lack of breathing. Shaking her head, she discerns dagger-like wounds from his lower abdomen to neck, confirming his cause of death.   
Reaching over and shutting his eyes forever, she turns her attention to Kayla and mentally scrolls through her list of appropriate spells. Seeing Kayla horribly slashed from behind, she instinctively thrusts her energy forward, capturing the skin-walker as he swings towards Kayla’s neck. Snarling, his eyes turn to Tara and she sees him slowly turning his body towards her. Over 20 yards away, his march towards her is ridiculously slow and yet she has little choice but to freeze in place or risk breaking her hold on him. Freed of the murderous cutter, Kayla finally overpowers him and rips the hammer form his grip. Turning the tide, she proceeds to pummel him across the park, knocking him into and through trees, benches, and the Cocteau Memorial statue erected a month prior. As the troll finally lies still from passing through the bronze statue, Kayla turns as Tara screams in agony from the skin-walker slashing her arm and shoulder. With a trail of blood splashing onto the ground, she tries desperately to get clear of his vile claws and falls face-first onto the grass. As he hovers over her, gloating over her helplessness inability to defend herself against him, a chiding voice calls out from behind.  
“Know what they say about little boys who play with knives?”  
An indescribable anger boils under his skin hearing that goading insult. As he pauses to gloat over how the elder witch will soon be dead by his hands, he knows there is no way she can reach him in time to stop it from happening. The hammer, thrown to impact his abdomen, falls far higher on him than Kayla expected. Due to him crouched down to skewer Tara, he smugly turns to voice his thoughts; his eyes barely have time to focus on the troll hammer hurtling towards him. Decapitating the killer at the upper chest, it sends blood and body parts in every direction, drenching Tara at ground zero of the collision. Covered from head to toe in his blood, Tara cannot imagine a worse state for anyone to find her in. Kayla hobbles over to Tara and collapses at her feet. Fishing out her cell phone, Kayla makes the call to Lenina for help. As Tara loses consciousness, Kayla wearily joins the witch as the song of sirens descends down upon them. 

 

Tara stirs feeling a warm hand brushing the hair from her face. With pain radiating from her left arm and shoulder, she groans as she tries to find a comfortable position. Willow resists bursting into tears seeing her aged partner conscious once more. With bandages on her upper arm and chest, she finds her hair freshly washed and the skin-walker’s blood gone. Tara’s eyes flutter open and she closes them knowing she’s finally safe. Using her good hand, she lightly squeezes Willow’s and opens her eyes once more. Seeing Willow’s blue and purple bruises on her cheek and face, she wants to cry. Stopping her, Willow calms her.  
“It looks far worse than it is. I still have to see a dentist this week, and they say I might have to get implants; but I’m hoping I might be able to do something with magic before going that route. At least he didn’t break the bones around my eye, but it was close. I brought you some clothes; they said they had to trash everything you were wearing.”  
Nodding, Tara notices the IV hanging beside her and asks the grim question.  
“How much blood did I lose?”  
Taken back, Willow tries to minimize her facial expression.  
“Oh, not much actually, only 2 pints. Kayla lost over three times as much, and they said it was a miracle she was still alive when she got here. They started cleaning up her wounds in the ambulance so that by the time they got her in the OR they were able to just stitch her up. Also I heard that as fast as they were putting blood into her, it was draining out.”  
Concerned, Tara asks the next obvious question.  
“How come I wasn’t that bad off?”   
Nodding, Willow sits down in the chair next to the bed and rests her feet.  
“Well, that’s taken them all day to figure out, but it turns out it was the skin-walker. In his blood was the antidote for his poisonous claws, and you got covered from head to toe; and of course it got into your wounds, neutralizing the anti-coagulant. If it hadn’t, we might have lost you.”  
Tara’s eyes dart around and she sees a majestic collection of flowers in a handmade vase. Smiling, she grimaces and represses the pain as she points towards the arrangement.  
“Did you get me those?”  
Shaking her head, Willow plucks the card off of the side table. Opening it up, she reads it aloud.  
“To my Wiccan protector, savior and friend. May god hasten your recovery – Father Cornelius Magus. You really impressed the old statue. When we talked to him last time, he practically oozed with disdain against us witches. I guess he had to swallow his ancient pride to write this.”  
Tara reaches over and rubs Willow’s arm.  
“Sweetie, people have the capacity for great change. Don’t act surprised that even the most rigid can have their eyes opened up. I’m sure he did a great amount of soul searching while he was recuperating. We all have after that fight. I think our demon neighbors below are looking at us in a different light as well.”  
Shrugging gruffly, Willow lays her head in Tara’s lap as the clock notes the passage of time on the wall. In the ward above, Faith hovers over Kayla’s unconscious form recovering from surgery. With doctors speaking encouragingly of her recovery, Faith silently broods over Kayla’s injuries. With the fear of raising Katya without Kayla, squeezes against her chest and she represses the burn in her eyes and throat. Dismissing the doctors, Faith whispers to Kayla as she did before, updating her on the day’s events. Telling how Katya was missing her, she continues by mentioning how Katya was feeding just fine, and the sooner she woke the sooner she could go home. With nothing left to say, Faith grasps Kayla’s hand and lays her head down on the bed beside her. With her face obscured in the sheets, she finally lowers her last barrier and lets the tears of anxiety flow.


	13. 13

April 18, 2033  
Vatican City, Rome, Italy (7:00pm) 

Exiting the Pope’s chambers, Dr. Edith McGovern motions for her staff of four to join her as she strides down the hall and ushered into a waiting room. As she finds a seat, a dusty blonde-haired woman in her thirties, joins her and quietly assumes a submissive posture. As the minutes pass, two of her companions linger behind her keeping an eye on the doorway and try to conceal the conspicuous bulges under their grey Canali jackets. As the anxiety reaches a crescendo, a door on the opposite side of the room opens and the assistant rises respectfully while Edith remains sitting. The aged professor refuses to give any fuel to the ego of the man who viewed her work as both trivial and asinine. With as much disdain and contempt he could muster, he spats out towards the doctor.  
“His Holiness may have bought your story but you still haven’t convinced me! There still is no evidence that this great evil is on the move, and even less evidence that you can offer any significant solutions if it was. Moving the relic now only puts the asset in great jeopardy!”  
Chiding the venomous counselor, she takes a deep draught of air before flashing a wicked smile. Her thick aristocratic British accent only buries the hatchet deeper.  
“Funny thing Jim, it doesn’t matter what you think now. I’ll take whoever you feel must accompany us to the colonies, but his Holiness the Pope has issued the order. You must comply. I have three divisions escorting it from here to California, plus a dozen spooks to throw anyone following off our trail. If you want to send more men and equipment, I won’t stop you. Remember, if we bring too many to the party, we can’t keep it a secret for very long.”   
A priest in ornate robes enters carrying a two foot long rectangular wooden case in his outstretched arms. Setting the case on the table before Edith, he pops the chrome latches and lifts the lid open. Edith represses the urge to explode into tears at the shear majesty of the red blade, radiating power and authority. James Crowley scoffs at the blade’s importance and value.  
“I still don’t get why everyone is so gaga over this thing. Without the original handle, the axe head is useless.”  
Shaking her head, Edith condemns his description of the ancient weapon.  
“It is NOT an axe! It is a scythe. A very old and revered weapon from a time long forgotten.”  
Transferring the blade to a waiting metal-lined shock-proof case, Edith delicately handles the exquisite object before setting it in the foam bed of the case. Reverently, she closes the lid and inhales sharply, having forgotten to breathe. Standing abruptly, she departs with her team, only to discover three dozen troops waiting outside to escort them to the airport. Shrugging, she lets the show of force continue to her waiting military transport. With an American flag painted proudly on the tail, James cannot believe she had established this many contacts to arrange an official U.S. military escort. Shaking his head, he starts to enter the plane but the soldiers bar his path. Contingents of female marines in heavy armor lower their weapons and release the safeties on their rifles. As he steps back in horror, Edith waves her hand and they allow him to pass. His instincts tell him more than his lips should say, so he bites his tongue instead. Taking a seat beside his troops as they board, he feels his safety improve. As his two dozen troops seat, the back ramp closes and the engines come to life as it taxies off the parking ramp and to the runway. Given high priority, the plane barely hesitates as it makes the turn at the end of the runway and goes to full power. The American soldiers that were at the ramp lower their face masks and a noticeable hiss escapes as their air supplies turn on. James eyes the forty or more soldiers siting across and around him are all on their personal air supplies, and he feels a trickle of fear wind around his neck. As the plane banks hard up and gets to altitude, James can’t deny the sense of danger he and his people are in. His breathing is labored and he rips off his seatbelt to find Edith. As he huffs angrily, he travels away from his troops who sit back casually, half of them napping for the long flight. Tripping over the last man, he expects his man to help him back to his feet, only to see the young man’s chest slack and unmoving. Horror hits him and he reaches for the emergency oxygen mask door. Pulling the mask taught, he desperately brings it to his face, only to find nothing flowing from the mask. Discarding it and pulling another, he realizes none of the masks are working. As he is blacking out, Edith casually walks towards the Watcher Counsel’s representative wearing a mask and toting an oxygen bottle under her arm. She seethes out, ensuring he hears her clearly.  
“The Counsel will not sacrifice our daughters this time. The age of the Shadows has ended, and the age of the Guardians has begun.”  
Slumping over unconscious, he is drug to a cargo container and thrown inside with his dying men. Most having turned a cold and sickly blue from the lack of oxygen, all their gear and belongings are thrown inside a different container and they are tossed into another like trash. Half-way over the Atlantic, they open the cargo ramp and eject the containers, discarding all the evidence. As the ramp seals tight, the air immediately resumes and is restored to safe limits. After uncovering the air pressure safety gages spread through ought the plane, the air crew gives the go ahead to go off oxygen. Relieved, the marines and officers pull off their masks and breathe deeply. Finding their seats, the women begin to laugh and relax as if the two dozen people they discarded were of no true value. Edith smiles warmly to each woman who passes her as they carouse around a small kitchenette installed in the center of the plane. Opening the door to the stairs leading up to the flight deck, she closes it firmly and joins her amazon crew and assistants. Having left her male guards in Rome, she surrounds herself with her female-only staff and smiles internally. With six loyal fighters escorting them across the pond, as the pilot put it, she estimated landing at Las Vegas International in six hours. Her assistant, Elya Pesaro, leans over and points to the case.  
“Are you sure that we can get the blade to the Slayer in time? Do you think they’ll be able to figure it out without us explaining it?”  
Nodding her head, Edith pats Elya’s hand reassuringly.  
“They figured it out and took down the skin-walker I sent. They are ready. Faith has surrounded herself with a powerful Wiccan counsel, established a firm trust with the local city-gov, the demon counsel, and the local Catholic Dioses. Every report I have received has only affirmed my faith…in Faith. She is the one. I know the prophecy said it would have been a golden-haired slayer who would have set all the potentials free, but that Elder she is now married to, has screwed everything up. It’s not a bad thing that the creature is so attached to Faith, but she did disrupt how the final war was to have been fought. My contacts have assured me that the Elder is devoted to supporting Faith; and in the final battle against the Great Evil, she will be a true blessing. Relax, everything is going as I planned, if not better. Now you are sure they will get the scythe’s rod-handle?”  
Nodding, Elya replies.  
“Affirmative! My agent entered the area yesterday afternoon and is set to discuss the matter with the witches as soon as she can. The eldest witch, Tara Maclay-Rosenberg, is still in serious condition, but she should be released in the next few days. There’s no point in discussing the matter until both are present. The Elder, Kayla Meadows, is in far more serious condition. If it were Faith, we’d probably looking for another Slayer right now, but she is healing fast. My latest intel says she’s conscious, alert, and has even started walking around. They say most of her wounds have healed and they took her off antibiotics at her request. She wants to resume nursing her daughter ASAP.”  
Edith shakes her head in disbelief, unable to make sense of the creature.  
“Just keep an eye on her. You’ve been doing a fantastic job so far, so keep it up.”  
Leaning back, Edith resigns to a nap. Absorbing all her inputs, she lets sleep overtake her, and bring rest to her ancient body.

Pushing Kayla out the front entrance in a wheelchair, Faith waits until they are seated and driving towards their apartment before breaking out in hysterical laughter. Faith pulls into the parking lot and gasps for air.  
“When they removed your bandages and the staples fell out onto the floor, I swear everyone’s jaws followed! I wish you could have seen their faces.”  
Kayla laughs as she replies.  
“Well I very well couldn’t from my angle; I was face down with my ass hanging out! So that explains why I had to wait all afternoon for them to discharge me.”  
Stretching as she steps out, Kayla reluctantly accepts Faith’s help by taking her overnight bag from her grip. Arriving at her apartment, she suppresses running at Willow holding Katya in her arms. Taking her into her arms, baby Katya explodes with a huge grin and joyous sounds having Kayla take a hold of her. Disappearing into her bedroom, Kayla begins undressing and changing into her shower robe. Talking continuously to Katya, she exits the bedroom and notices she interrupted an important conversation. Pushing aside the thought, Kayla plops onto the couch to put herself in the middle of the conversation between Willow and Faith. Rolling her eyes, Faith motions for Willow to continue.  
“Well, they want to meet us all about 9pm. They claim to have found an ancient slayer artifact, and you should receive it. And here’s the cryptic part: they warned me that the Watcher’s Council was trying to take it back. Apparently they have been trying to keep it from getting to you for the past year. They are adamant that the council can no longer be trusted.”  
As Faith mulls over the statement, Kayla sighs loudly drawing all eyes towards her.  
“That council, if I’m not mistaken was once a force of good. It seems over time, they have become drunk with power. I don’t know firsthand, but I heard rumors of another organization working to protect the slayer. I have had dealings with them in the past…over three thousand years ago, and we have crossed paths. If this is them…which my gut tells me it is…they are extremely active for being extinct. Look, this is deep. I have very little knowledge of Slayers and the B.S. which revolves around them. Everything I know comes second or third-hand from demons and beings I befriend. Like I told you before, I rarely associated with your kind. I was fighting a war which would result in you getting splattered against the wall after the first hit. If I did, it would make all your enemies mine, and all my enemies yours…something a slayer could never take on. Proof in point: Buffy Summers. The best she could do was stall until I could get into the fight, and that costed her life, and nearly yours, Faith. I go up against demi-gods who get out of line, and full demons who slip into our world. I can be hurt, and some half-demons can get the drop on me, but for the most part I go toe to toe against their more powerful cousins more often than I care to mention. There are rules I have to live by, and I have to be careful not to become the monster I’m protecting the world against. There’s a lot of things which I can’t even get into about me, and I know it seems like a paradox, like how I can fight demi-gods, get my butt sliced up by a half-demon Skin-Walker. It’s complicated.”  
Kayla nervously sighs before mustering the strength to continue.   
“God, the oldest and original god of light and darkness, grants me his grace when he feels I need it, not when I want it. It’s that complicated. Look: You’re the first mortals that I’ve ever given this much info about me. The less you all know the better. When I say it’s bigger than you can ever imagine, I’m not exaggerating. Also, there’s a reason I gravitated to this part of the country. A great evil’s portal is located not far from here, and his minions are stored there. A slayer can hold them back for a while, but their true might lies in their numbers, not brawn. They are the minions of a god-like force, not these weak half-demons you fight like Skin-Walkers and vampires. When one gets loose into the world, I know. I’m drawn to them to search and destroy as fast as possible. While outside this world they are formless and just envelopes of evil roaming the abyssal plains. Once they enter our world, the great evil gives them shape, and they are massed to form armies. I fought one thousands of years ago which took the shape of a great bird. It was a pain to bring down. I’m telling you all this to prepare you for what might be coming around the corner. Various prophecies foretell of this and various outcomes can result. No future is guaranteed. Let’s keep this quiet and speak to this person…a woman right?”  
Willow nods numbly and Faith interjects firmly.  
“Well let’s meet her right away. I need answers, not more questions. God! How did Buffy do this crap so well?”  
As Faith fumes off towards the bedroom, Kayla excuses herself with Katya in her arms and trails gingerly behind her wife.


	14. 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter has been updated. A few points were added to make the next chapter flow properly.

April 21, 2033  
San Angeles (8:55pm)

Swaddled against Kayla’s chest, Katya naps comfortably as they sit outside the Great Crater Bar and Grill. With a mariachi band playing next door, Faith, Willow, and Tara sat outside on the patio admiring how the once repressive city was slowly regaining its southwest flair. Faith easily persuaded the waitress to give them a private corner. As drinks are served, they patiently wait until a young woman clad in a fashionable business suit arrives and the waitress points them out to her. Toting a long steel case, her firm serious expression matches her sharp and deliberate movements. With her dark auburn locks restrained by a tight ponytail, Faith notes her expensive watch and designer heels which scream for attention. The sharp cracks from her footfalls give her the impression of a military officer or Stormtrooper. With a forced smile, she acknowledges everyone at the table until she sees Kayla, and Faith sees a flicker of apprehension flash across her face. She clears her throat as she addresses Faith and Willow. 

“I thought this would be a private meeting. I can reschedule again to a better time?” Willow squeezes Tara’s hand as she bites her tongue and Faith shakes her head. 

“No. This is a good time and place. Have a seat, we’re safe here. This is…” She coldly nods to Kayla and Tara, and warmly shakes Faith’s and Willow’s hand. 

“Yes, I’m quite familiar with Ms. Rosenberg’s work in witchcraft. It is an esteemed honor. My Name is Christine Carter, and I represent a private firm who wishes to remain anonymous while providing maximum support. Well, if this is the best we can do, I present you with one piece of the artifact.” Snapping the latches open on the metal case, she presents it to Faith. Reaching inside, Faith extracts a 37 inch long shaft made of wood and iron. The polished metal shaft felt unreal in her hand, like the sensation she got holding a poisonous snake. Running her fingers over the metal shaft, she discerns the small holes through the shaft spaced strategically for function and purpose. Toting it beside her, she is perplexed seeing a wooden stake mounted at the bottom end and gently sets it back in its resting place. 

“It has had many names over the past three thousand years but it is simply referred to as the Slayer’s Scythe. Our firm has desperately been trying to regain the head piece; and if all goes well, we should have the blade here in two days.” Faith nods and examines the rod. Taken back by the extreme weight of the rod, she tentatively hands it to Kayla who examines it closely. Tara notes the way Christine cringes seeing Kayla handle the item, and logs it for later. Kayla clears her throat and glides her finger across the stake in the scythe. 

“Do you know what kind of wood is this?” Christine shrugs. 

“Our best experts are stumped. We know the wood should have rotted away thousands of years ago, but it is as if it was mounted there just recently. It has not dried out nor can be scratched without damaging the weapon. It’s some sort of ancient oak from a breed of tree now extinct. It’s as hard as iron, and has never needed to be polished or repaired. The entire weapon has never rusted or suffered from any kind of corrosion. We know the metal is from a meteorite, it has a distinct metallurgic signature. It is truly awesome...an item given to us by the gods themselves.” Kayla clears her throat. 

“God himself.” Everyone pauses to stare at Kayla who has no discomfort saying what’s on her mind. 

“This is a piece of a powerful holy item which only a god-like being could have produced. The simple act of me handling it without suffering any ill effects says much about whom and for whom it was made. Only a handful of beings could have produced this item, and it is truly a work of art.” Christine eyes her suspiciously before finally breaking the heavy silence left by Kayla’s words. 

“None the less, it is a powerful artifact which should be made whole. We should have the head-piece soon, and I will contact you as soon as it arrives. If you will excuse me?” She stands and hurriedly exits the restaurant leaving the foursome staring numbly into their drinks. 

Exiting the bedroom, Kayla gently shuts the door and tightens her robe. 

“She’s finally asleep, definitely a night owl like all slayers. The wood is unique alright. I recognized it immediately when I touched it. It was crafted from a branch of the tree of life. It is the one thing which can kill, if not destroy, a pure demon if you hit him just right. If there was ever a weapon specifically made for a vampire slayer, then this is it. As I mentioned before, slayers and their business is one which I kept far away from, so I have no info on this thing. I heard rumors of a slayer super weapon, but it was myth as far as I was concerned. It wasn’t my business, so I never bothered to look into it. Sorry.” Willow clears her throat suddenly. 

“Well, I’m just as stumped. Whoever crafted this weapon managed to keep it a secret from everyone, including us Wiccans. The Tree of Life? Are you sure?” Kayla nods as she rests her gaze on the weapon. Moving aside for Faith to sit as she returns from the shower, Kayla finally breaks her stare and lets her woman take her place in front of her. 

“God has only allowed a few pieces to drift into the hands of man since creation. This is the first time I’ve actually seen one crafted into a weapon as this. Mythology from when I was young said the angel Michael had a curved sword crafted from the same tree to do battle against the great evil’s minions. Just brushing against this weapon destroyed evil’s forces. He later had a great sword crafted from star-iron, but he always kept that first wooden weapon tied on his back…just in case. Vampires have been around far too long, and have been a constant blight on humanity. I’ve had my run-ins with them, and they never get to talk about it unless they turn the other way and run really fast. Michael lent me that wooden sword when we were told to destroy Ubar. An ancient demon was hiding under the city, and God ordered everything cleansed. Demons aren’t just unstoppable fighting machines, but a formidable source of corruption to all living creatures. I can’t tell you how many half and nearly full demons were encamped in that area. We started the battle just before nightfall, and didn’t leave the valley until after midday the following day. In the old days, I was very busy. Nowadays, I deal with what life presents me. I don’t have to go far to find trouble.” 

Tara fidgets nervously digesting Kayla’s story and finally inhales sharply before she exhales her own words forcibly. 

“Seeing that we’re being so honest and forthcoming…I have to admit that I was doing some research about…about you. I feel bad about it now, but I had to know exactly what they knew about you and…make sure your story kind of checked out. You know?” 

Faith raises her eyebrow at the witch, and Kayla could feel the tension building in Faith’s body. Clearing her throat, she lays her hand on Faith’s shoulder and replies. 

“And what did you find out? It’s okay, it’s very sensible thing to do. So tell us what your prestigious Watcher’s Council has to say about me?” 

Tara and Willow exchange looks nervously and Willow finally breaks the silence. 

“Well, they said you were not truly human, and that you typically didn’t get involved in human affairs. You were a kind of supernatural creature who wasn’t truly evil but not someone who worked for the betterment of humanity either.” Kayla nods while chewing on their description. 

“Well, that’s almost accurate because I am protecting humanity by not getting involved in your development, and preventing evil from destroying or enslaving the human race.” 

Willow sighs loudly. “There’s more though. They…warned us to not get too close to you, and that we should try and get Katya away from you and to England. They felt Katya was best to be raised by a good watcher family.” Tara practically screams out before Faith could sit up. 

“BUT we have no intention in doing that! They are crazy to try and do that, and even crazier to think that we would even follow an order like that. I would never take a child from her mother! You’re the best person to be Katya’s mother, and we would never intrude in that bond.” Willow stands to continue where Tara leaves off. 

“We think that’s who was working behind the scenes to try and take Katya since day one. With that knowledge we have been able to predict some of the tactics they could try. Legally, they no longer have any way to take her, which leaves them illegal avenues. Tara and I have been trying to find some magic which could prevent them from just kidnapping her, but it’s not that easy.” Tara nods enthusiastically as she continues for them. 

“We think we can make an alarm against anyone who approaches her with ill intent, but it’s not an easy form of magic to work. It’s easy to make them against evil, undead, or anything of that nature, but it’s not always effective against regular people.” 

Kayla turns to Faith and says matter-of-factly, “That’s why humans should never have learned to play with magic.” She laughs to herself and continues. “This coming from the person who spent a few weeks learning how to do magic with Lacey, but magic is generally a bad idea. No offense to you all, it’s just my opinion. With that said, I remember hearing about an old type of family magic which protected the family. I wish I could tell you more, but like I said magic wasn’t my thing really. Yes I learned an anti-pregnancy spell, but that’s really nothing compared to what we are talking about here. Look into spells which protect the family and home, it might be there. That damn demon seed really screwed me up. It messed up my memory, messed up my system, and cut my connection with the universe. It put a mental fog over my mind which I really forgot who and what I was. It made it seem like my history was a delusional dream, a creation of my own imagination. When I find that S.O.B. demon, he’ll learn the definition of damnation. Well, with that said, thank you for coming clean. Next, what can I do to help?” 

Willow and Tara look at each other stumped. Wanting to pry further about the demon and why he didn’t recognize her as the Child of Light, Tara decides to file it away for another day. 

“Well…we really don’t know. When we can get something up and going, you’ll be the first to know.” Faith shrugs equally confounded. “This is all just too much for me to take in. I can’t say that this new group is such a bad thing. The Watcher’s Counsel hasn’t been much help lately; and if the new guys are supplying me with a better weapon, I won’t refuse the help.” 

Kayla whispers privately into Faith’s ear as Willow and Tara discuss the magic options between them. 

“Faith, be careful on what gifts you accept from strangers…sometimes the price is far more than it is ever worth.” 

In a fifty-story office complex in north Las Vegas surrounded by three identical towers only forty stories high, Dr. Edith McGovern reviews the meeting her agent completed an hour prior. With the satellite uplink providing an efficient means of sending and receiving the video recording of the meeting, she enjoys a front-row seat to the entire event. Studying the expressions and subtle nuances the group gave, she takes mental notes on how well they received the weapon. With her trusted counsel seated alongside her, Edith preferred to view the entire event before allowing any conversation or opinions thrown around the table. As the meeting ends and her agent rises to depart, smiles knowingly. With the recording ending, the table immediately begins whispering between them, and Edith motions for the glasses to be filled and their meeting to begin officially. Starting with her right, she motions to begin. A scarred and muscular woman in her mid-forties takes a sip of her bottled water before speaking. 

“Well that could have gone worse, but didn’t. That elder is a pain in the ass. She knows too damn much, if you ask me. Whenever she asked a question, it was like she already knew the answer.” 

Edith laughs with a hearty chuckle. “Yah, I got that too Cynthia. She knows all too well that’s wood from the tree of life.” The room of nine women make tactical estimates of the meeting one after another, telling their opinions of how to counter anything the Elder suggests. The next to last lady seated after the redhead Delores, a short-haired chestnut officer fifteen years younger than everyone in the room shakes her head. “I admit I don’t have much experience in dealing with demi-gods, but I don’t get the negative vibes from her that you all do. Yes, she is a smart-ass. Yes, she knows a hell of a lot more than all of us combined, but I don’t see her as a threat as everyone else does.” As the room begins to turn on their youngest counselor, added to their rollcall just a year prior, Edith immediately silences the pack and allows Gloria Evers to continue with her thoughts. She notices the subtle tell of relief as she resumes. 

“She’s a mother caring for an infant daughter; her wife is a powerful being in her own right, and when they stand together against the darkness nothing can defeat them. I’m jealous of them. If I had been lucky enough to have been called instead of Katya, I too would be dead now, so I’m not suicidal. I, like Colonel Benson beside you Edith, were potentials and just never got called upon. Any one of us could have been called and would more than likely be dead by now. What this elder brings to the table is an ultra-powerful skill-set which we can utilize to further our cause. We have effectively shut down the watchers counsel after thousands of years of interference, and this much feminine power is now focused to our cause. If we make her into our enemy, or worse, we become her enemy through our actions, you might as well hand this power back over to the watchers.” 

Seeing her words strike discord with the rest of her counsel, Edith recognizes why she assigned her to her leadership team. Edith nods appreciatively and bows to her wisdom. “What do you suggest Gloria?” Recognizing she’s surrounded by a table of wolves, she swallows dryly before speaking. “First, we need to protect the Elder’s daughter. Yes, it would be best for her to be raised by a human family with the wisdom that she will become a slayer, but in this context, it would be best to let the Elder raise her and gain the knowledge and wisdom that she will instill in her. We don’t have anyone like that on our team, and we are in a severe disadvantage. Second, we need to have the Elder assist in unlocking the magic to empower all potentials, not just the one single slayer. If she does it, we have a greater chance of success than without. Lastly, we need to make sure it’s THEIR idea to unlock the power and not ours. If they catch wind that it was ours from day one, the jig is up and it won’t happen. 

Edith nods approvingly and dismisses the counsel. As Gloria is the last to leave, Edith motions for her to stay. Beside Gloria, Danielle Gibbons whispers into Gloria’s ear as she passes. “She always said to speak your mind, but DAMN girl.” Shooting her best friend an annoying glare, she takes her seat and waits for the conference room doors to reseal.


	15. 15

**Chapter 15**

**April 21, 2033**

**Las Vegas, Nevada**

 

“So what would you propose? Specifically.”

Nervously, Gloria thinks quickly before opening her mouth again. “Well, the Watcher’ Counsel probably isn’t through with trying to get Katya. We’ve disabled their power structure, but not destroyed them. They actually have many independent units that are ‘fire-and-forget’ weapons. If they activated a unit of that type, Katya is very much still in danger of abduction. We need to get our people in place and keep an eye out for them.”

As Gloria scrolls through the list of plans she has, she notices Edith taking notes and continues.

“Well, the magic involved with releasing the power of the slayer is difficult at best, if not downright impossible. They will need the books to research this spell, and I suggest it’s under the guise of understanding the weapon we’re giving them. We can simply tell them that we are giving them all of the source material so they can get a better idea on the origins of the weapon, and we simply leave numerous page markers around the pages on releasing the scythe’s power. It’s subtle but effective. Or better, leave evidence that we had page markers there and removed them before giving them the books. That sounds better.”

Laughing Edith nods her head in approval as she continues to scribble notes furiously.

“We need to do this all very fast, time is of the essence here. How many do you need to do this?”

Standing abruptly, Gloria laughs out nervously. “Whoa…I’m not a field operative. I don’t have experience in managing this from the ground.”

Edith nods stoically. “That’s true, but most of everyone here didn’t start out as field agents, you’re managers and overseers. I will get you experienced field agents to manage the details; you just need to get your feet wet. You’ll do fine. I have a couple on the top of my head who will be great teachers for you. Would say you’d need about two dozen troops, with about four experienced plainclothes operatives?”

Her turn to nod, Gloria numbly agrees and takes her new assignment in stride. With Edith’s approval, getting all the books and scrolls together was a breeze, and the troops were assembling as she was leaving the library. Escorted to the staging area, she places the books and scrolls in a secure room so she can get a bag together for the long mission ahead.

 

**April 23, 2033**

**San Angeles (2:25pm)**

 

Holding the handle of the red-bladed Scythe of the Slayer legend, Faith cannot ignore the power emanating from holding the rod in her hands. Like warm electricity flowing through her soul, she feels the positive vibrations surging into every cell of her body feeding her untold power and might, replenishing her after her long intense workout in the apartment complex’s gymnasium. Shaking her head, it does little to dissipate the emotional and physical strength surging through her. Snickering, Kayla calls to her from the kitchen.

“Stop holding that thing…you’ll go blind.”

Stumbling backwards from Kayla’s words, she shoots her an annoying glare, and sets it back in the closet, out of sight. Stripping out of her sweaty clothes, she tosses them into the dirty clothes bin and gets into the shower. With her mind buzzing with the possibilities of the new weapon, she is forced to do a reality check too often. Amazement was insufficient when describing how she felt most of the time when she reviewed her current life and situation from years ago. To imagining being in a stable committed relationship when compared to her teenage life, she would never have bet on it in a million years. Breaking her internal reflection, a hand appears from the side of shower curtain offering her phone to take. Fighting back the initial surprise, she shakes the excess water from her hands and takes the phone. Though her phone was entirely waterproof, she couldn’t fight her instincts to not get it wet. Confused, why Kayla felt it couldn’t wait, she looks into the unidentified number on the screen as if it would cave under her scrutinizing glare.

“Hello?”

The young woman’s voice on the other end of the line is unrecognizable, but is incredibly pleasant and friendly.

“Miss Lehane?”

Faith shakes her head with an annoying flash. “Yes, this is Mrs. Lehane.”

Faith loved that she could now emphasize her new official title. The woman apologizes for her mistake before continuing.

“We have the last part of the Scythe, and we are in route to your location. We have already passed through the city’s airport customs department and wish to deliver the headpiece ASAP. Where would you prefer to meet?”

Imagining a dozen places off the top of her head, she decides on a place which would only make an unscrupulous soul cringe and quiver hearing.

“Yah, meet me at the front of the SAPD station. We’ll use my office there.”

The lurch in the woman’s speech verifies Faith’s wisdom. “Um…okay. Its best that I don’t be seen giving you this item publically.”

Nodding, Faith shifts gears. “Okay, just meet me there, and we will exchange the item in the parking lot. That okay?”

Faith can feel the reluctance emanating from the young woman. “Sure, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Faith hangs up on her without saying a word. Setting the phone down outside the shower, she quickly finishes and throws on her sweats, barely toweling off beforehand. Apologizing to Kayla for running out on her, she sprints down to the Rosenberg’s apartment and has Willow join her in the exchange. Arriving ten minutes late, she sees four small armored vehicles waiting patiently in the empty parking lot, except for the few privately owned vehicles of the division chiefs. Faith strides towards the vehicles and is surprised that only one of the vehicles opens a door invitingly. Peering inside is a young woman with light brown hair and barely in her thirties smile meekly and motions for the pair to join her. Shrugging, Faith enters followed by the elderly Willow. The door is closed softly behind her, letting the woman from on the phone begin.

“Thank you for meeting us out here. My employer wouldn’t appreciate me being recorded exchanging this item with you. There are many in the Watcher’s Counsel who simply refuse to allow you to not only posses the artifacts, but to combine them into the Slayer’s Scythe. This will prepare you for the fights which you were destined to have, and give you the necessary capabilities to win them. There’s rumors of power troll weapons, Demi-gods who are nearly invincible to man, and frankly stuff we don’t know what to make of. The counsel has fought us tooth and nail on this; and well, we don’t care anymore. Faith Lehane, we give you the headpiece of the Slayer’s Scythe. Use it wisely and not frivolously.”

Opening a sealed shockproof case approximately forty-eight inches long, Faith’s eyes widen seeing the brilliant red blade of an axe. Noticing the two red metal pins lying beside the blade, she remembers the two holes on the handle end to mount the blade. Nodding, Faith has Willow look it over before closing the case and latching it closed.

“Because it is so important, we felt we should provide you with all the research material over the weapon, not to mention a proper case to store the weapon once it is assembled. You’ll be the first slayer to hold the weapon in thousands of years. Use it wisely.”

Nodding and thanking them, Faith exits the vehicle and places the cases in her car. As the pair drives away, Faith ensures she’s not followed or observed. No words pass between them, and even the elevator ride up to their apartments is abnormally quiet.

While Willow gathers Tara from her nap, Faith goes into her apartment and recovers the handle. Kayla stands in eerie silence as Faith opens the case and she gets her first glimpses of the weapon. Shaking her head, she rubs Katya’s back as she feeds in a swaddle across her chest. Minutes later, the room is filled with their closest friends, and Faith gingerly inserts the blade into the handle section. A bizarre metal click erupts as the pieces suddenly align themselves into their proper position. Shrugging, Faith places the first pin into the hole and prepares to hammer it in place when the pin begins burrowing into place. A blast of light and sound like a symphonic orchestra tuning erupt from the weapon, and the noise slowly becomes a beautiful tone as the screw is fully seated. Staring at each other in amazement, even Katya stopped feeding and stares at the sight in joy. Faith picks up the last pin, and sets it in place causing another round of light and noise, even brighter and louder than before. Nearly deafening Willow and Tara, they pull themselves off the ground once the process was completed, and realize no one else was affected like they were. Even Katya is laughing and clapping from watching the scene, and Kayla has to take her to the kitchen so she will latch onto her again and resume feeding. Under her breath, Willow hears Kayla scold them annoyingly.

“All you slayers want to do is play with that thing.”

Willow peers over Faith’s shoulder and stares in awe. “I never imagined it would be so beautiful and scary-like at the same time.”

Faith cocks her head to one side trying to see it from Willow’s perspective and then nods in agreement.

“I bet it will scare the hell out of demons…one way or the other.”

 

 Standing at Willow’s foreboding work table, Kayla hands the sleeping Katya to Lacey as she joins Faith sitting naked atop it. Taking her place between Faith’s legs, she sits facing her wife, slips off her robe, and tosses to Tara. Sitting as naked as her wife, she fights her nervousness and wraps her legs around Faith’s waist. Drawing herself tightly against Faith to hide their nakedness, Faith waits until Kayla is done moving around before she wraps her legs around and underneath Kayla the best she can. Snuggly intertwined, and with Kayla sitting comfortably on Faith’s legs, Kayla nods to Lacey who hands Katya back to them. As naked as her parents, she is carefully slid into Kayla’s arms and Lacey quickly steps back. Getting Katya settled comfortably in her arms, Kayla slowly leans into Faith and lays her head on her wife’s shoulder.

Nestling her face into Faith’s neck, she feels Faith lower her head onto her shoulder and Faith’s arm enclose her as Willow begins lighting the candles surrounding them. Just as the last candle is lit, Tara begins chanting and Willow joins in after the first read through. Time seems to grind slowly by as Kayla forgets her nakedness and the wonderful closeness to her family overwhelms her. For the first time in thousands of years she feels complete in the world. Her world of combat, evil, pain and suffering drifts far away in her mind. Deposited into a world free of evil and hatred, she lets tears of joy pour out of her. Holding Faith’s hand with Katya nestled tightly across her chest, they bask in their love and meander aimlessly across the world as the spell engulfs them.

Binding them together as a family, Faith cannot fathom any appropriate words to express what she sees. Looking to Kayla, she watches her naked wife walking beside her suddenly appear wearing a long thin green dress. Looking at her own nakedness, she’s surprised when she is suddenly clad in a soft tan cotton blouse and a dark skirt. Though barefoot, she feels nothing out of sorts and nearly jumps backwards seeing a red-haired child walking beside Kayla clutching her other hand. Smiling the child skips along gleefully as they walk and Faith cannot suppress the joy filling her heart. An eternity passes before Faith pulls her face from Kayla’s shoulder. Blinking she looks around the room to find Lacy extinguishing the candles and Tara coming to the side of the table to help the trio off. Surprised to find Kayla and Katya sleeping contently, she almost feels bad having to wake them.

After gently rousing Kayla, she waits until her wife is fully awake before moving. Blinking, Kayla shakes off the sleepiness and hands Katya back to Lacey before slipping off Faith’s lap. After donning her robe, she takes Katya back and redresses her. Still uneasy with her nudity in front of her friends, she tries to shake it off and hands Faith her robe as she is helped off the table. Off handedly she expresses her dislike for having to be naked for the ceremony and Willow absently replies as she collects the candles.

“Well if you weren’t, the spell could easily transfer to just your clothes and would be useless. You’d be surprised how many spells require you to be naked. Clothes simply get in the way sometimes, and you can’t have anything between you and the magic. Any spell which alters the body has a chance for failing if you are clothed, especially with leather. Trust me, I understand how inconvenient it may seem, but far too often they mess up spells. That’s why when I do most of my work, I’m naked as a jaybird under my robe. Clothes can actually affect the way the magic interacts with the world around you, and you get used to wearing the bare essentials…and being exposed to the elements.”  

Unconvinced, Kayla lets Faith change first as she gets Katya ready to travel back to their apartment. After a few minutes, she exits the bathroom and lets Kayla change. As Tara returns from the bedroom changed, Faith gently rocks Katya in her carrier and asks Tara gingerly.

“So have you two made any headway on those books they gave you?”

Shaking her head, Tara finishes tidying up the table as Willow excuses herself to change.

“Not really, the books don’t have much on the scythe. I did, on the other hand, find quite a bit on the source of the slayer’s power. It’s an ancient magic going nearly back to the dawn of man, and the scythe seems to tap directly into this magical source. Willow and I have been searching for this source for quite some time and it seems they have inadvertently given us the key.”

Dropping to a whisper, Tara continues.

“Willow is really close to deciphering a spell to release the power of the slayers, but she’s still weeks away to figuring out the specifics. We discovered the previous owners were doing similar research, but tried to disguise the research. It took us a few days to figure it out, but it’s obvious we aren’t the first to pursue this line of thought. The only difference between them and us is that we have the scythe intact and they didn’t. Willow really believes that we can tap into this magic and let all those who could become slayers, become slayers. These books are the key to this spell, and now we are one more step closer. I’ll let you know when we are about done with the research.”

Exiting the bathroom, Kayla signals she’s ready to leave. After exchanging a quick round of hugs and thanks, the small family departs leaving the older family to break up and head separate ways to bed.


End file.
